


The Real Housemates of Beacon University

by Carterson_the_Mortal



Series: The Sexy and Stupid Chronicles of Beacon University [2]
Category: RWBY
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Bumbleby - Freeform, F/F, F/M, Fluff, Gen, M/M, Multi, Renora, Valentine’s Day, White Rose - Freeform, arkos, fair game, lotta ships here, marrowgold
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-02-09
Updated: 2020-12-15
Packaged: 2021-02-28 04:08:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 21
Words: 64,650
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22638175
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Carterson_the_Mortal/pseuds/Carterson_the_Mortal
Summary: Beacon University. Come for the education, stay for the people. The really odd, really loving people.
Relationships: Blake Belladonna/Yang Xiao Long, Elm Ederne/Vine Zeki, Jaune Arc/Pyrrha Nikos, Lie Ren/Nora Valkyrie, Marrow Amin/May Marigold, Qrow Branwen/Clover Ebi, Robyn Hill/Winter Schnee, Ruby Rose/Weiss Schnee
Series: The Sexy and Stupid Chronicles of Beacon University [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1800751
Comments: 92
Kudos: 211





	1. Trust Love

**Author's Note:**

> I’ll be honest, there was nothing that really spurred me to write this, it just sorta...happened. The RWBY world has some good relationships in it and since Valentine’s Day is upon us, I just wanted to do something for it.
> 
> There’s no real order here or some big message, I just wanted to do a Thing. Enjoy!

**Ren & Nora**

Every night, Ren and Nora have the same routine before bed. Or at least, the closest thing to a routine that would qualify. 

First, they brush each other’s teeth.

Yes, you read that right; she would brush his teeth and he hers. It was a part of growing up, you see; when they were both kids and lived next to each other. To teach the always exuberant Nora about dental hygiene—how a 6 year old managed to hide a pack of M&M’s in her hair still baffled the Ren parents to this day—the kids had to brush one another’s teeth during sleepovers. It ended up sticking in their minds longer than either would admit, but it became less weird once they started to date. 

Next, they tell each other about their day. Nora will tell her boyfriend about the role she’s reading for or helping Roman and his sister Neo work theater tech. Ren talks about his shoot that day and, usually with pictures, describe the clothes he had to wear and the poses struck. (More often than not she would demand a recreation of said poses before trying to do them herself. Ren would bite his lip in a cheeky grin, then cover his mouth and try to hide his laughter. It didn’t work.)

Finally, they would spoon. More often than not, Nora would be the big spoon, her bulky arms wrapping around him like a koala. Or a sloth. And each time, they’d end the night the same way. A quick peck on the lips, and then: 

“I love you, Storm.”

“I love you, Flower.”

* * *

** Ruby & Weiss **

There were three reasons Weiss loved the beach. First was that quite simply, it was beautiful, a sight whose glory would never get old. Second was that her sister Winter would arrive for her annual spring trip. This time, though, Winter came with a friend; a woman named Robyn who apparently also had business in Vale. She seemed nice enough, if a bit more blunt than even Yang would cop to. 

The third reason? Ruby Rose and her goddamn abs. Each time the group took on these beach trips, Ruby and Yang would grab their surfboards and immediately make for the waves. Did Weiss know anything about surfing? No.

Did that stop her from ogling her housemate when she would emerge from the ocean soaked to the bone, abs and arms glistening? No way. 

“Weiss! Did you see us out there?” Ruby practically bounced over to her, eyes alight with glee. It was this reason and this reason only Weiss usually abstained from beach games for the first hour, so she could “work on her tan.”

“You’ve improved,” she said. It wasn’t a lie. 

“Thanks! Now it’s time to celebrate with some ice cream! I’ll be right back!” Dropping her board by Weiss’ things, Ruby ran off with her wallet in hand. 

“Don’t forget,” Weiss called out, “rocky road and—“

“Double sprinkles! I know!” A thumbs up comes from Ruby before she’s gone from view. 

Next to Weiss, there’s a whistle of admiration. “You’ve got that girl wrapped your fingers, don’t you?” Robyn grinned. “May as well have given her a pat on the head.”

“I’m sure I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Weiss lied. 

“Kid, please, be straight with me. Well, straight as two gays can be.”

“Ruby and I are just friends.”

Robyn scoffed. “Yeah, and you and your sister both love spending thanksgiving with your folks.” There was a silence before she continued. “Look, I won’t tell you how to live your life. All’s I’m saying is, that girl would probably move heaven and earth for you if you asked.” At Weiss’ skeptical look, she merely said “think about it,” before returning to her magazine. 

  
  


Ruby had met Winter years ago, but she wasn’t sure where she stood in regards to the elder Schnee. This wouldn’t have been a problem...except for the fact that Winter keeps giving her this look like she’s about to confess to a crime. 

“So, Ruby. You and my sister.” And of course, Winter just happened to find her waiting for ice cream and elected to join the red/black haired woman. 

“What about her?” Ruby bounced on her feet. This line was taking forever. 

“When exactly do you plan on courting her?”

“Uh...what?”

“Ms. Rose, please. I’ve seen the way you look at her. You’d have to be as blind as your neighbor to not see that.” One of the employees at that moment arrives with their orders; two ice cream cones for Ruby, and a sundae with two spoons for Winter. 

As they make their way back to their spot, Ruby bites her tongue a moment before replying, “Winter, I don’t have a crush on Weiss. I mean sure, she’s a genius, beautiful, adorable, kind hearted, a great singer, and always smells nice!! But I don’t—” She stops in her tracks. “Oh, shit.”

“Yeah.”

_“Shiiiiiiiiiit.”_

“Yeahhhhhhhhh.” Winter gives her a pat on the back, and they’re walking again. “The last time we talked, she told me for ten minutes about how organized your housemates to pull off a whole dance routine the weekend after she got a phone call from our father. This was after I simply asked how her day was.”

That made Ruby’s heart flutter. “10 minutes?” She asked softly. 

“She even showed me the video.” Winter smiled. “Don’t tell my sister, but, I approved the moment I met you.” She gives a wink before walking over to Robyn and taking a seat next to her. For a moment, Ruby just watches as Winter presses her lips to Robyn’s cheek before putting a spoon in their sundae and feeding it to her. 

“Thank you, Ruby,” Weiss beamed when she walked over, cone now in Weiss’ eager hand. Ruby took a moment to stare at her friend happily eating her ice cream cone, the elated smile on her face positively beaming in the sun. 

Unexpectedly, Ruby pushed her own cone towards Weiss. “You want some of mine?” The paler woman hesitated for a moment before giving a taste and humming in appreciation. 

“You have good taste,” Weiss said before returning to her own cone. 

Behind her, Winter and Robyn grinned and gave two thumbs up. 

* * *

**Blake & Yang **

It wasn’t exactly an open secret that Blake wasn’t the biggest fan of the gym. Sure, she kept in shape over the years, but compared to her girlfriend, who seemed to live there on the weekends, Belladonna was content to go every half the week and take the other three days off. 

Fortunately, Yang was the most cooperative partner she’d had—not exactly like that was a long list, but still—and came up with a crafty solution to satisfy them both. Hence, Blake was here in the library, feet crossed in her chair and reading a _Sherlock Holmes_ novel as Yang shadow boxed next to her. 

“What chapter you on now?” Yang asked, bouncing on the balls of her feet. 

Blake held up a finger and turned the page before answering, “Ten. How many reps did you hit?”

“One-Fifty, right and left. Time to switch?”

“Time to switch.” Sliding her bookmark in, Blake closed her book and took up a fighting stance. Yang waited for her to get into a stance before sitting down and pulling out her own book, _The Expanse_. 

Yang’s fingers started slowly beginning to open the book. “3...”

Blake clenched her left fist. “2...”

“1!”

As she began to shadow box, gold eyes drifted to Yang as she read. She couldn’t help but smile. Purple eyes looked up at her, twinkling with happiness. 

“Focus! We said we wouldn’t get distracted.” Yang grinned before returning to her book. 

Yeah, Blake thought as she threw another punch, compromise was good. 

* * *

**Qrow & Clover**

“You look nervous,” Clover says as he walks into the kitchen. He’s not wrong; Qrow is pacing back and forth, rubbing at his wrists. “Something on your mind?”

“No,” Qrow replies before admitting, “yes. Tai and Summer are having a barbecue on Friday. The kids and their friends are coming.”

“Okay....” Clover plucks an apple from the fridge. “I’ve met Tai and Summer before, so that isn’t what’s really worrying you.”

“Raven will be there, too.”

That explains everything, Clover wishes to say, but he’s too busy with apple in his mouth. After swallowing, he simply says, “Ah.”

“Yeah,” Qrow chuckles bitterly. “I figured that would be the reaction.” What conversations the two have had about Raven Branwen have been minimal; he’s never met her, but all Clover really knows for sure is that there was some falling out over a job years ago, and it took Raven and Yang nearly coming to blows in a club for the two to talk again. (Raven, according to Qrow, insisted her daughter was the only one emotional that night, but Qrow knows the telltale signs of Raven when she’s dropped her aloof demeanor.)

“You don’t think I should come,” Clover says. It wasn’t a question. 

“I don’t know what to think,” Qrow says. “She’s never cared about who I’ve been with, but...” This is different. He doesn’t want to say it, but Clover knows. 

“How about this,” he offers. “We go to the barbecue, and we just make sure neither of us are alone with her.” He knows he’s made the right suggestion when Qrow’s shoulders deflate. 

“Okay,” Qrow smiles. “Yeah, that can work. I’m sure the kids won’t mind running interference every once in awhile.”

Clover walks over behind Qrow and wraps his arms around the man’s midsection. “Good thing I’m the brains of this operation, huh?”

“Brains, eh? And what’s that make me, the face?” Qrow chuckles airily. 

“Well, I don’t know about the face, but you can be my good luck charm,” is what Clover says before he kisses Qrow. 

Friday comes around and sure enough, things go as they plan. At least two of the kids are there to save Qrow or Clover from being alone with Raven, and they’re certain even Tai and Summer are doing what they can as well. Clover’s certain the evening is going to go off without a hitch. 

“Why hello, Mr. Ebi.”

At least until he heads inside the Rose-Xiao Long house to grab some foil and just happens to lock eyes with Raven, who apparently conjured out of thin air. 

“Ms. Branwen,” he says curtly. He isn’t sure where they stand and doesn’t want to overstep. “We haven’t had the pleasure of meeting before.”

“I suppose we haven’t.” Wine red eyes look him up and down before continuing, “I know what you did. Having the kids, Tai and Summer attach to you two like gnats.”

“I’m sure I don’t know what you’re talking—“

“Mr. Ebi,” her gaze hardens and her tone becomes icy, “we are both adults. I would appreciate it if you don’t lie to my face.”

“Very well, then. Yes, I told the others to be around in case we needed a buffer,” he admits, and there’s a certain catharsis in telling this to her face. “To be quite blunt, Ms. Branwen, I don’t know you. Everything I know about you I’ve pieced together from your brother and your daughter, and they don’t paint you in the best of light.”

“I love your brother, and I want to know you as a part of his family,” Clover says, “but only if I can trust you.”

There’s a pause between them both before Raven snickers. And then she breaks into laughter, wiping away at imaginary tears in between her eyes. 

“Well, you’re certainly more direct than anyone else he’s brought home,” Raven says after she’s calmed down. “You must’ve been military.”

He wants to correct her, say he’s a lawyer, but he was military before this. Instead, he simply says, “Your brother thinks it’s one of my better qualities.”

“I’d have to agree with him.” She puts a hand out, and he shakes it. For a moment, he thinks they’ll be squeezing each other’s hands in a power play, but nothing comes of it. When they’re done, he prepares to head back outside, foil in hand. 

“Clover.”

He turns around. “Yes, Raven?”

He isn’t sure he’s earned that yet, but she doesn’t correct him. “Just so we’re clear: If you hurt him, I will kill you.”

To that, Clover laughs lightly. He opens the door and steps back outside, but not before winking and saying two words: 

“Good luck.”

* * *

**Marrow & May**

Here’s the thing, for being such a social person, Marrow was kind of bad it. He wasn’t socially awkward like some people he knew, but he definitely wasn’t the smooth, debonair type like how he imagined his neighbor Mr. Ebi to be. “Just dumb luck,” he would say when Marrow asked how to be that cool. “Dumb luck, my ass,” Marrow would think. 

In any case, Marrow found himself musing on this as he sits outside in the backyard of a house party thrown by who he thinks is Flynt Coal? He wasn’t fully sure, he just got a text from Harriet telling him to be there and stay relatively sober because he was DD this time. He’s had a few drinks but few and far between, and the music was too much he just needed to step outside. Right now, he’s content to just sit in this chair and stare at the moon, absently petting Flynt’s way too cute for its own good. 

“Are ya winning, son?” Marrow jumps in surprise. Tearing his eyes away from the sky, he looks to his right and sees a woman sitting next to him. She can’t be older than him but by a year or two; a tan hoodie covers up most of her white shirt and shorts that reveal way more leg than he would’ve thought possible for September. It’s like 9 or 10, but he can still see her navy blue hair perfectly. 

“Bwuh?” Okay, not his smoothest response, but he also wasn’t expecting a woman to just sneak up on him. 

She giggles. “You were staring at the moon there pretty hard.”

“Oh, pfff, no, just got kinda lost in my own head.” He scoots over to give her a place to sit, and she graciously accepts. 

“Yeah?” Her gold eyes shine with curiosity. “And what’s going on in that head of yours? Anything interesting?”

“Right now,” Marrow says, “just thinking about how I saw that blonde guy get really into beer pong earlier.”

“Oh, you saw that too?”

“YES, it was super weird! He was doing kickflips and shit every time he made it into a cup!!!”

“Did you see he took his shirt off?” She laughs. It’s a cute laugh. “I heard someone say ‘not again’ when he did it.”

“Oh my goddddddd.” Marrow laughs. “I think I’ve seen the guy on campus before and I’m sure he’s nice, but he’s also...”

“Kind of a bro?”

“Kind of a bro,” he confirms. “But, y’know, not a Bro. He’s a lowercase b.”

“A brah.” Her voice gets deep as she does her imitations. “Hey brah. Let’s go play some Apex, brah.”

“No no, it’s more like,” he changes his voice, “brah, you wanna go do some reps at the gym? Just hog all the machines for half an hour and stay there for four hours, brah?”

She laughs again. “Oh god, too real. I swear, every time I go to my gym...”

They talk for what feels like an hour, cracking jokes and telling stories. They even spend some time giving Flynt’s dog little scritches, which the little beast appreciates greatly. 

“Wait, wait,” she throws a hand up. Very quickly, she opens the back door slightly and soon they’re hearing someone play the trumpet perfectly. 

“Flynt?” Marrow asks. 

“Flynt,” she confirms as she returns to her seat. 

“Man, I wish I was him sometimes. He’s _so_ cool.”

She hums. “I dunno, I think you’re plenty cool all yourself.” 

“Really?” He hopes he doesn’t sound too desperate for approval right now.

“Dude, you think I just spend an hour outside talking about dude bros and memes with just anyone?” She lays her head on his shoulder. “I think you’re cool, just relax.”

Marrow tenses up for a moment before relaxing. He adjusts his arm to wrap it around her side. For a few minutes, they just let Flynt’s trumpet playing be their background noise as they stare up at the moon. 

“Yo, Mare.” Both heads turn to see Harriet standing in the doorway, a smirk on her lips. “Sorry to break this up, but I want food, and...” The dog takes this moment to hop off Marrow’s lap. 

Marrow sighs. “Yeah, okay. Be there in a sec.” When she’s gone, he stands up, offering a hand to his new friend. She takes it, and soon they’re both standing near the doorway as Flynt continues to go all out, putting flair into his solo. “Des duty calls,” he shrugs. “But, I had fun.”

“Me, too,” she smiles. “Maybe I’ll see you around school?”

“Hope so. Have a good night,” he says before turning towards the door to leave. She grabs his wrist and pulls him flush to her. 

“I want to try something,” is what she says before she leans down slightly and puts his lips to hers. On impulse, his arms wrap around her neck, and hers go around his waist before lifting him off the ground slightly. 

They break apart just as Flynt’s music ends and applause breaks out inside the house. 

Marrow is beet red as he’s put back on solId ground. “That was...” He trails off before simply saying, “Yeah.”

“Yeah,” she echoes. She grins before giving a quick peck and heading inside.

“I’m Marrow!” He gets out before she’s too far gone. 

Her head turns and she smiles. “May.” And then she’s gone. 

Beside him, Flynt’s dog looks up at him in childish confusion. All Marrow can do is scratch the dog’s chin. “Yeah, boy. Me too.”

* * *

**Vine & Elm**

Upon entering the Beacon gym, Vine Zeki didn’t go to the locker room. He didn’t even really greet the young lady at the checkout desk, Xiao Long, he thought her name was. Instead, he marched right up to the second floor and scanned the area. 

Not at the rowing machines or the bench, he thought. Not lifting weights. Maybe—Wait. His eyes narrowed to confirm his suspicions. 

_Target acquired._

His long legs made it easy for him to get to his destination. Elm was none the wiser, continuing to do pull-ups with her eyes closed and music blaring loudly. Her muscles flexed as she repeated the motions, sweat clear through her shirt. 

When she finally stopped her reps and landed on the ground, she turned to look at him. Removing one headphone, she simply asked, “Again?”

Vine nodded. “Again.” He put his work binder and backpack on the ground and unbuttoned his sleeves, rolling them up. 

“You realize I am extremely sweaty, right?” Elm asked with hesitation. 

“No more classes today, and no meetings this afternoon. I am free.” He kicked off his shoes next to his things. “Ready?”

Elm nodded, and Vine jumped towards her, wrapping his body around her front like a koala. When he was certain he was secure, he tapped her shoulder twice, and she jumped up to grab the bars and resume her workout. 

From the top of the stairs, Yang Xiao Long and Harriet Bree watch this sight with respective confusion and amusement. “Does that happen often?” Yang can’t help but ask. 

Harriet nods. “He only does it when his class is really frustrating. Been doing it since as long as I’ve had a job here.”

“Well, good for them, I guess.”

“You telling me you wouldn’t want to be lifted into the air by her just to make your day better?” Yang has no answer, to which Harriet smirks. “Thought so.”

* * *

**Jaune & Pyrrha **

Jaune has been no stranger to hospitals in his life. When you have seven sisters, in addition to being sometimes accident prone yourself, it happens. Still, that he’s been to hospitals so often in his life does nothing to alleviate his nerves. He was so stressed that Ren and Nora took him outside just so he wouldn’t burn a hole in the floor with his pacing. 

Now, the two have their arms wrapped around him, the three sitting in the parking lot with nothing but the chirping of crickets to serve as background noise. 

“I can’t believe this,” Jaune gets out. “I-I know we had time, and we prepared, but...I still can’t believe it.”

“It feels like so long ago that we all met one another,” Ren says softly. “And now look at us.”

“Hey,” Nora grins. “Look at us. Who woulda thought?”

“Not me,” both men say, and they all laugh. 

“What if I’m not ready? What if I’m not—“

Nora puts a hand over his mouth. “You are.” Her blue eyes are lit with determination as she repeats, with greater conviction: “You. Are.”

“No one ever thinks they’re ready,” Ren supplies, “but you have us. You have Tai and Summer, your sisters. We’ll be there every step of the way.”

Jaune smiles, reaching for his phone when it vibrates. He licks his lips and says, “They’re ready for me.”

  
  


Upon entering the room, Jaune takes everything in. In the bed, Pyrrha’s red hair is practically eating the pillow. Sweat’s dripping down her face, but she looks beautiful as the day he met her. 

“Hello again,” she says when he’s close enough. 

“Hey. How you feel?” When she gives him a glare, he chuckles. “Right.”

“We did it.” Tears pool in her eyes. 

“ _You_ did it. I just drove you here and told Yang to hold your hand so you wouldn’t break mine.” He holds his arms out. “Can I?”

Wordlessly, she shifts the bundle in her hands over to him. The baby, buried underneath a ridiculous amount of sheets and covers, is adorable. His cheeks are chubby and his skin is as tan as hers. Jaune’s ready to burst into tears at the sight of him, but instead he kisses the baby on the head. 

“He’s beautiful,” he says. “Like his mother.”

“Please,” Pyrrha chuckles, “no corny lines.” “I can't believe it. We made a person. A real, live person.”

“We’re gonna be the best parents ever.”

“Better than Summer and Tai?”

“...We will be the second best parents ever,” he corrects. 

Pyrrha giggles. He scoots closer so she can rest on his shoulder, and the two of them stare at their child in silence. She waits a moment before saying, “We need a name.”

“Well, Nora gave us a whole list earlier...”

“We can't name that boy Nora II: The Sequel.”

“That’s what i told her, but she was very insistent on that and Thunder Thighs.”

With what little energy she has, Pyrrha smacks her head in mock exasperation. “Okay, I suppose there is one name I’ve been considering off and on for awhile now. You remember our old soccer coach?”

About ten minutes later, when their friends and family are allowed to be let in, Jaune and Pyrrha are beaming as they hold their son in their arms. 

“Everyone,” Jaune begins. 

“Meet our son,” Pyrrha continues. “Oscar Pine Arc.”


	2. The One Thing

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Henry Marigold and his father are assholes. He’s throwing a party. You can figure out what happens next.

Nothing good ever happens in a Costco on Wednesday afternoon. 

We begin with Ruby, Yang, Jaune, and Weiss, all of them amicably eating their pizza slices and hot dogs. Until. 

“Guys! Guysguysguysguys!!!!” Nora practically slides into Weiss and knocks her over. “I just heard the best news ever!!!!”

“You don’t know how to say hello first?” Jaune asks sarcastically. 

Nora sighs. “Hello, everyone. Now, shut your hot faces, because I. Have. News!!!”

Weiss puts up a finger and said, “I’m still on the—“

Yang chuckles. “Alright, Viking, what’s the news?”

“So I’m in economics because I’m dropping something off for prof Marigold, and he’s telling his class that they’ve got until 3:15 on Friday to turn in their assignment, right? And he says it’s because he and his wife are going out of town for the weekend!”

There’s a collective silence before Ruby chimes in. “Okay....? And?”

“Aaaaaaand, professor Rupert Marigold is the father of one Harold Anthony Marigold, aka Henry, aka the Dumbest Blue-Haired Person in the school—“

“I still can’t believe Neptune wanted a vote,” Jaune mutters. 

“Lemme finish!! I heard from Harriet who heard from Ciel who heard from Coco who heard from Neon that Blue-Hair is planning on throwing a little party while his parents are away.” Nora’s face twists into a wicked smile. “So, I propose that we go there and do what anyone would do at a party thrown by someone so douchey even Mercury Black got sick of him.”

“Teach him to break away from toxic masculinity so he can become a better person?” Yang offers. When everyone looks at her, she shrugs. “What, I read.”

“No, you sweet sunny dragon.” She steps onto the table as she proudly declares: “We go there and destroy the place!!”

And thus begins: Nora Valkyrie Acts a Fool, Chapter Three. 

“So, none of you are going to help me off the floor,” Weiss deadpans. “Swell.” 

By that afternoon, everyone in the house knew of Henry’s party. By Thursday, everyone (sans Blake, because work, and Pyrrha, because she’s nice) had been convinced by Nora to attend and start some shit. Come Friday night, the six of them are driving to the Marigold household. The good thing about having someone like Weiss Schnee or Yang Xiao Long in your friend circle was that no one would turn them away if they showed up at your party, and sure enough, that’s what happened here. 

The Marigolds were a pretty well off family with a big ass house and loved waving their wealthy dicks around. It truly boggled them all why Henry and his father were at Beacon University instead of literally anywhere else, but Mrs. Marigold was allegedly the primary source of their income. It would’ve been admirable if her son wasn’t a flaming douche. 

“Okay Viking, what’s the plan?” Yang asks as they step into the house. Music is thumping loudly, drinks are already being passed out. Weiss, Jaune, and Ruby break off to go socialize. 

“We don’t have to do anything, my friend,” Nora steeples her fingers. “All we have to do is let the moments of chaos come to us.” She starts laughing maniacally, throwing her head back and cackling like a mad wo—

Ren throws a hand over her mouth. He narrows his eyes and says, “Is...is that Marrow making out with May Marigold?”

Yang, Ren, and Nora walk over to the corner of the house Ren pointed to and indeed, that is their friend making out with their enemy’s cousin. Marrow’s the first to realize their presence and breaks away, trying to look ashamed and patting his tussled hair together. 

“Heeeeeeeey, guys,” Marrow blushes. “Hope you’re enjoying the party.”

“Not as much as you, apparently,” Yang winks. May laughs and smacks his ass. 

“I can’t believe I’m saying this,” Nora gives them both a wink, “but you could get a room.”

“Why the fuck would I wanna do that?” May counters. She gives both women a high five when they throw their hands up. 

“Your cousin’s a douche,” Ren says, calmly taking a drink that he got from...somewhere.

There’s a moment before May sighs and simply says, “I know.”

Within an hour and a half, the party has naturally descended into chaos. Nora’s convinced Roman to do his and Neo’s hip-hop dance routine. (It’s awful. And possibly offensive.) Yang and Sage have wrestled downstairs in the den, and an eager Sun allegedly broke the pool table when he tag teamed with his fellow blonde and tried to body slam Sage to the floor. 

“Hey, so, did anyone else see Cardin take a shit on Prof Marigold’s computer?” Jaune asks as they watch Yang arm wrestle Yatsuhashi. 

“I did,” Weiss confirms. She’s snacking on a cracker. “I watched...way longer than I care to admit. No one even dared him to do it, he just decided to.”

“Gross. Hey, didn’t you lose your p-in-v virginity to this guy?”

“Quiet, Vomit Boy.”

All of them are varying levels of not sober, thanks to having some shots before heading to the party and some more drinks along the way. Having weed probably also didn’t hurt. 

Someone, it may be Neptune, rushes down the stairs in a hurry, nearly colliding into Ruby. Ren isn’t really paying attention to whatever the blue-hair is saying, what with his head resting on Nora’s, but his ears perk up towards the end. 

“—the police.”

Oh, shit. 

His girlfriend tilts her head up as best she can. He’s so gone he doesn’t realize he said that out loud.“Neptune said something about the police.”

Nora snorts. “Ooooh the police, I’m scared. Fuck the police!”

“Fuck the police!” A drunk Jaune says next to them. Weiss echoes that sentiment. In no time, all of these 18 to 20-somethings, drunk and/or sober off their ass, are shouting “FUCK DA POLICE!”.

Yes, most of them are white.

“FUCK DA PO-LICE! FUCK DA PO-LICEE!!”

Everyone stops when they hear a loud cough from the stairwell. Standing there, leaning on the railing, is a police officer in a white shirt and black pants, sleeves rolled up. The young adults all stare at him as he slowly descends the stairs until they all see him in the center of the room. 

He reaches up to his walkie and says, loudly: “Get the paddy wagon.”

Several years from now, Jaune Arc will be a married man. Several years after _that_ , he and his wife Pyrrha Nikos will be celebrating the birth of their first son, Oscar Pine Arc. 

But tonight? Jaune is a young man, drunk, and with a bottle of .40 in his hand. Tonight, Jaune throws the bottle on the ground and yells, in his scratchy-deep voice as loud as he can: “SCATTER!!!!!”

Instantly, everyone bolts in various directions, some brave enough to run past the cop in question. Nora and Ren lead their group through the back entrance of the house leading to a massive pool, which would be impressive if they weren’t all about to get arrested. 

The six came to a halt as they came face to face with a high fence, the only thing between them and freedom. Their eyes looked at one another as they tried to weigh their options. 

“That’s the highest fence I’ve ever seen,” Jaune says for pretty much everyone. 

Ever the cocky one, Nora scoffs. “Please, how hard could it be to climb a fucking fe—“

Nora wakes up. 

Gingerly, she lifts her head up from the bed and examines her body. Every limb intact, no scars that she can see. She looks over at Ren and does a once over, he also is unharmed. She starts to shake him awake. 

“Ren. Ren. _Reeeeeeeeeeeeen_.” At this point, she’s punching his shoulder. Eyes still shut, he swats her fist away, rolling over and nestling into Ruby’s side. 

...wait. 

Ren’s eyes bolt open. He and Nora look at their still sleeping housemate, then at each other. A snore comes from behind Nora, and she turns around to see Weiss sleeping vertically on top of Yang and Jaune. Ren puts a finger to his lips, then points outside. Very slowly, the couple leave and shut the door as quietly as possible. 

“What the fuck?” Nora hisses. “What the fuck!!!!”

“I don’t know!” Ren shrugs. He checks his watch, and it’s almost 10:30. 

“I don’t remember getting home last night! I don’t even remember how we got over the fence!”

Ren scratches his chin as he contemplates. “I think....Yang boosted us all? Or maybe she threw us?”

That makes about as much sense as anything last night. “Wait, how did we get here if we were all gone as hell?” She rushes downstairs and sure enough, Ren’s car and Yang’s bike are there in the driveway, looking no worse for wear.

“Maybe we were so gone we came right back around to being sober?” Ren asks as they trudge back upstairs.

“That is absolutely not what happened.”

Inside the kitchen, Blake scribbles on the newspaper. Pyrrha is behind her, making some eggs and bacon.

“You guys were so...what’s a nine-letter word for for completely drunk off your ass? It’s vertical,” Blake continues.

“Is it shitfaced?” Pyrrha grins over her shoulder. They fist bump.

“Seriously though, we came back to get you and your rides,” Pyrrha informs. “Figured you would get pretty drunk, so we had someone drop us off. And apparently just in time, too.”

“Trying to get you all in one car was like herding cats, who were blind,” Blake says.

“Thank you, so much,” Ren says. “I’m sure the others would agree when they wake—“

Scratch that, because a loud scream pierces through the quiet. Ren and Nora grab their heads in agitation. A few minutes later, Weiss stomps into the front room, face red, followed by a still exhausted Yang, Jaune, and Ruby.

“That was the worst night I’ve had since uncle Qrow challenged us to that drinking game,” Yang says. By now, they’re all caught up and drinking coffee, or tea and milk, in the respective case of Blake and Ruby.

“I’m never drinking again,” Ruby says. Pyrrha pats her head.

“Okay,” Nora concedes, “so I know things got a little out of hand,”

“Did I see you make out with May and Marrow?” Weiss asks.

“No, that was _me_ ,” Ren says with pride. He high fives Jaune, then Yang.

“But overall, I would say things went pretty well,” the redhead continues. “Because we fucked up the house of a rich asshole and his prick son.”

“Yes,” Weiss rolls her eyes. “I’m sure historians will note this after the second class uprising.”

Before anyone can respond, there’s a loud series of knocks at their door.Blake goes downstairs to let their guest in, and it turns out to be a very disheveled Henry Marigold. He looks barely better off than the others, but none of them are smart enough to comment on it.

“Frickin finally, I knew you all lived in one of these houses,” he says. His eyes take in the front room as he says with a sneer, “You all live with a Schnee and a model, and you live like this?”

“What do you want, Hank,” Weiss says for everyone. Her tone is frosty as hell.

“Look, I had a party last night, and it got kind of outta control,” he begins. Instantly, everyone comes to full attention. “Someone broke our pool table in the den, had sex in my room,” Nora snickers and Ren blushes, “I think someone took a dump on my dad’s computer.” Blake and Pyrrha turn towards everyone else, their eyes clearly asking what the fuck.

“That’s....” Pyrrha trails off, at a loss for words. All she can settle on was, “weird.”

“My parents are gonna kill me,” he continues. “But the worst part is that we got robbed! Someone stole these old family photos we had all around our house.”

Blake halts her crossword puzzle. Everyone tenses up even further.

“I’ve been asking around and no one saw anything weird. Were any of you there last night?”

One by one, everyone glances at each other. They’re all trying to piece together the events of last night, but none of them are certain.

Pyrrha’s the first to speak up. “Henry, I can promise you that none of us were there. We decided to stay in for the night and watch some movies.” She looks to everyone for confirmation, her eyes saying: Lie like your life depends on it.

One by one, everyone gives an affirmation to her claim. Henry deflates, a horror on his face as he realizes he may potentially be screwed, and he leaves in silence.

“I’m checking the bed,” Ruby says once the door clicks.

“Bathroom,” Weiss and Yang spring to action.

Jaune and Blake rush downstairs to tear their den upside down. After about an hour and checking the car extensively after Henry’s out of sight, none of them have found anything from last night’s party.

“I’ll admit,” Weiss says after they’ve gathered together, “I honestly thought Nora did do it.”

“Me too,” the woman in question says. “It feels like a me thing.”

“Let’s just be glad it wasn’t you,” Pyrrha says. “You know we’d never hear the end of it if it was.”

Everyone nods. The rest of their day consists of them recovering from the party, still mildly curious about whoever ended up absconding with a weird collection of items.

** Three months later **

“Thank you for helping me move in, everyone,” Yatsuhashi says. “You can just leave the boxes over there.”

Behind him, Yang and Nora set down the heaviest cardboard boxes. Jaune and Ren follow suit with their decent sized assortment, followed by Pyrrha with her small contribution. Weiss, Ruby, and Blake are the last to come in with a two-wheeler for the TV.

“Well, you did offer us some real good pizza,” Pyrrha winks.

“That I did. Fox will be by later to help me unpack, so feel free to make yourselves at home while I make the order.”

Everyone sighs, sitting on the floor once given permission. Ruby looks around and whistles. “Have you already figured what you’ll do with the place?”

“I think so,” he confirms. “So far, there’s only one real room I have more or less finished. Would you like to see it?” When everyone gives affirmatives, he leads them down the hall to door across from the bathroom. He opens it and steps back, ushering them in.

“Pardon the darkness,” Yatsuhashi says before closing the door behind him. He flips on the lights, and the room’s walls are indeed filled. With pictures.

“Oh, whoa,” Yang smiles. “It’s like a family timeline!”

“These pictures must be decades old,” Ren traces one of the frames with his fingers. “They’re in amazing condition for their age.”

“This is pretty cool,” Blake agrees.

“Yeah, but...” Ruby squints. “None of these people look like you. Are you adopted?”

Yatsuhashi beams. “No, I am not!”

Everyone looks at each other with concern before Pyrrha speaks up. “Yatsu...where did you get these?”

“I stole them!”

What.

Jaune laughs and smacks the larger man on the shoulder. “Good one, man! You almost had us going there for a second. ‘I stole these family photos’, Classic.” He wipes a fake tear from his eyes and looks at Yatsu. Who is still smiling.

“Oh, holy shit,” Jaune mutters.

“I think we should leave now,” Yatsuhashi simply states. The eight of them leave the room and enter the den in a panicked silence, each of them looking at one another worriedly as Yatsuhashi trails behind them.

Her fingers steepled together, Weiss can only ask, in a mixture of concern, fear, and bewilderment: “Whyyyyyyyy? Why would you do this?” She breaks down on her knees as turns around to face Yatsuhashi.

It’s a moment before he smiles, white teeth shining in the mid afternoon sun. “Because,” he says with joy, “it’s _the one thing they can’t replace_.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright, a few things.
> 
> Yes, I totally used one of John Mulaney’s funniest sketches with RWBY characters. Sue me.
> 
> Second, this is now under a new title! I figured it would be easier to do instead of making fic after fic in the same universe, so under one banner it all goes! Expect another chapter in the near future.


	3. 2 Son Blondes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Three things to know about Taiyang Xiao Long
> 
> 1: He is charming.
> 
> 2: He is kind of a slutty, well meaning, Casanova.
> 
> 3: He is very dumb.

There are three things everyone knows about Taiyang Xiao Long.

The first is that whatever else you can say about him, he’s incredibly kind and charming. Given the rather public falling out he had with the Branwen family when he got Raven pregnant years ago, it was to be expected. What went down at that Noodles & Company is said to be so legendary, the shop owner has sworn to take the ending to his grave. 

Second is that with charm comes sexuality, and the man had that in spades. He was absolutely a heartbreaker throughout high school and college, a self described Casanova. (If asked, Qrow will turn red and deny anything. Summer will smirk. Raven will probably punch you.)

Third, and most important of all these? Taiyang is also pretty dumb. Like, amazingly gullible for someone who teaches at Signal High and has been for nearly 20 years. The man graduated with honors from Beacon, for god’s sake.

And speaking of Beacon...his daughter, Yang Xiao Long, has been a freshman at Beacon for a few weeks. Like him, she’s a charmer, pretty strong, and a caring soul. But like her father, she’s also blonde.

And also a troll.

It’s a month and a half into the semester, and Yang is home for the weekend. Ostensibly it’s because Tai and Summer wanted an in-person check in, but really, they just missed her at the dinner table. It’s a Saturday evening, and the Xiao Long-Rose family are just enjoying the fact that they’re all together again when a knock at the door interrupts them.

“I’ll get it!” Yang is out of her chair before anyone can say anything. Tai, Summer, and Ruby don’t think anything of it until her voice echoes through the dining room. “Dad...?”

Tai looks up just as Yang comes back in with two guests behind her. They’re both boys, around Yang’s age, and blonde. The one on the right is the taller of the two, with shaggy hair that nearly reaches his neck. The left blonde is more tan than the other, and his hair more spiky.

“Who’re your friends, kiddo?” Tai points his salad-filled fork at them. 

“They’re not here for me, dad. They said they wanted to speak to you.”

Tai places his fork down, now paying attention. “Really?” He looks at the two of them with curiosity. “And why’s that?”

It’s the taller blond who speaks up first. “Sir, my name is Jaune Arc and this is Sun Wukong.” Jaune points at himself, then to his left. “We’re sorry to disturb your family at this time of night, but, well...”

“We think you’re our father.” Sun finished. Tai’s eyes widen.

Summer covers her mouth. “Oh my god.” At the end of the table, a gasp escaped Ruby’s lips. Slowly, Tai backs away from the dining table and walks over to them both.

“You’re my sons?” Tai whispered in amazement. His face flips between shock and amazement at the sight of them.

“Yes, sir,” Sun gives a tight nod. Jaune sniffles, his eyes already red, and next to him, Yang already has tears down her face.

“My _sons_ ,” is all Tai says before wrapping them both in a hug. Tai squeezes them both. “I’m so sorry I left you without a father all these years.”

Somewhere in all this, Yang has joined in. Tai can feel his daughter’s warmth at his side.

“Dad?” When he hums to acknowledge her, she whispers loud enough for everyone to hear: “You’ve just been Yang’d.”

Tai’s eyes shoot open. Oh  _ no_.

“ _Yang’d _ .” And suddenly, his daughter gives a loud snort, already breaking from the hug and leaning against the wall. 

“What the hell?” Ruby looks at her now laughing sister with worry. Summer puts a hand to her chest and exhales.

Tai breaks the hug and looks at both Sun and Jaune. They both have big, shit eating grin on their faces.

“Sorry, man.” Sun shrugged.

Tai lets out a groan. “Did you really bring your friends over so you can prank me with fake human sons?”

Yang giggles. “Yep!”

Tai chuckled. Those chuckles turn into laughs, and eventually they’re both laughing together like Yang didn’t just nearly upend his life.

“ _Whaaaaaaaat the hell??????_ ” Ruby looks at her sister and father. “Mom!!!” She looks to her mother, but the elder Rose still has her mouth open in shock. Jaune and Sun, try as they might, are amused at their successful prank.

“Alright, so how many points is that worth?” asked Yang when she’s calmed down. Sun drums on the table with his hands.

Tai puts a finger to his chin. “How about....an 8.4.”

Yang whoops. “I’ll take it!” She gives a high five to her fellow blondes.

Summer clears her throat. “You will not ‘take it’! Yang, look how you made your father feel! We were having a good night before you leave in the morning, and then you go and do this? And think about the example this sets for your sister!”

Yang looks down at her feet, ashamed. “I’m sorry, mom.”

“Sorry, Mrs. Rose,” Jaune and Sun say. 

“Me too, sweetie.” Tai looks away, embarrassed.

“You should be.” Summer said as she crossed her arms. “I mean, really, 8.4? With how well they all sold it, it should easily be a 9.” Four heads shoot up in surprise. Jaune and Sun high five each other.

“Yes!” Yang does a little dance. “You heard the woman, dad! That means I’m officially ahead of you.”

“Barely,” Tai snorted. “Don’t get cocky, kid, you’ve just given me more to work with now that I know we can use helpers!”

Summer reached out to put a hand on both their shoulders. “How about we finish dinner, with our new guests?” An eyebrow is raised to Jaune and Sun.

“If you’ll have us,” Jaune politely said.

“Don’t mind if we do, Mrs. R.” Sun has already pulled up a chair next to where Yang sat.

“And  then ,” Summer continued as Jaune took the seat on her opposite side, “you can continue your prank war.”

“Fiiiiiiiiiine,”  they both sigh before returning to their seats. As he sat down, Tai takes a moment to watch Yang banter with Sun and Summer asking Jaune about school as Ruby passed them both plates so they can get food. His daughter has some good friends.

Which is why he’ll prank _them_ first  instead of Yang. As a warmup. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So a few days ago in a discord, we spent like 30 minutes cracking jokes about Tai being a himbo. Someone, I forget who, said that it would be funny if Jaune and Sun met Tai and people thought they were his sons, so. Yeah.
> 
> Hope you enjoy!


	4. Stabbings and Planetariums

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Inevitably, everyone asks Qrow Branwen and Clover Ebi when they first met. There are two stories.

Inevitably, everyone asks Qrow Branwen and Clover Ebi when they first met. There are two stories. 

* * *

Qrow says it was at a bar.

This usually comes as a surprise to many, considering Qrow had now been sober for several years. What they didn’t know was that Clover was the reason why. It had been a Friday night, and ever the night bird, Qrow was waiting on his friend Shiro to show up so they could drink til the sun came up. Shiro was an hour late, and then eventually texted, saying he couldn’t make it due to work. It was fine. Qrow would drink enough for the two of them. 

Drunk enough, Qrow had paid his tab and was preparing to call himself an Uber when he heard grunting and the sound of a body on brick. Curious, he rounded the corner and saw something that sobered him up quickly. One man on the ground clutching his side, another man towering over him, the glint of a blade in his hand. 

Like the drunk idiot he was, all Qrow could get out was: “What the fuck?” That caught the attention of both men; the one with the blade took one look at him and charged forward. Qrow sidestepped him easily, grabbing his jacket and punching the man in the face. Pushing him into a lamppost seemed to knock him out for good. 

Qrow ran over to the man on the ground. “You good?” It was a dumb question, since he was  bleeding .

“Honestly, I’ve been better,” the other guy winced, then looked at him. “Are you drunk?”

“....No.” Qrow dug into his pocket for his phone and called an ambulance and the police. Once he gave the necessary information, he turned to his injured companion. “Can you move?”

He nodded. Qrow helped him to his feet and together, they limped back into the bar. The bartender thankfully didn’t make a fuss, giving over an ice pack once she saw why they returned.

“Another drink?  Really?”

Qrow held up a finger as he finished his beer. “Look pal, I planned on going home and watching some Netflix until I had to save your ass. I deserve this.” After a moment, he said, “Incidentally, you’re paying for this one.”

The man laughed, then winced. “Fair enough. And for the record, my name is Clover.” Clover reached into his jacket and pulled out some money before placing it on the table.

“Qrow. So, what’d you do to piss off the asshole laying in the grass?”

Clover sighed. “That ‘asshole,’ as you put it, was being creepy towards one of the women staff here. She left for the night and I made sure she got to her car safely. Afterwards, he jumped me.”

“You’re a regular knight in shining armor.” Qrow snickered. “At least tell me you got some good hits in.” Clover, from what he could tell, looked stocky, but not built. He probably could give Tai a run for his money.

“I’m a lawyer, but I’m not defenseless,” Clover smirked. Qrow quirked an eyebrow, clearly referencing the current situation, and he chuckled. “Present moment excluded.”

“Oooooh, a lawyer. Maybe you can sue that friend of yours once you get patched up.” Qrow laughs just as the ambulance pulls up. “Looks like your ride is here.”

Clover gives a mock glare and reaches back into his wallet. As the paramedics walk in, he hands a card to Qrow before they lead him to their truck. “I owe you. Call me sometime,” Clover said.

Qrow looked down, and that son of a bitch had given him a business card with his phone number. Clever. But he wouldn’t call. Really. He wouldn’t.

* * *

Clover says they met at a planetarium. 

The lawyer only had to wait two days before Qrow finally texted him. From there, the two had built up a strange relationship: they hadn’t actually physically met since that night. Qrow was always busy, apparently. When he would text, it was vague and revealed very few details about his life, not even his job, while Clover was the more active of the two’s conversations. Several times he was worried about being too dominant, but since Qrow never complained, he never brought it up.

True to his word, Clover did still “owe” Qrow, which he was keen on reminding the man every few days. After about three weeks of texting, the favor was finally called in. Four tickets to the Vale Planetarium, which were hard to come by these days. Even scalpers found themselves looking to other scalpers.

Luckily, Clover knew a guy he previously did a case with who worked at the planetarium and was more than happy to fork over four tickets. When Qrow showed up at the front door with two young women—one short and in red who was very excitable, the other tall and blonde with a prosthetic arm and  slightly less excitable—the man gave a small smile in gratitude.

“My nieces, Ruby and Yang,” Qrow jerked a thumb at them both.

“Hello!” “Heya.” Both girls waved. They both couldn’t have been older than 17 or 18. Thanks for getting us tickets!” Ruby beamed. He already decided he liked her

“Thank your uncle for saving my life,” Clover grinned. He displays the tickets in his hand and says, “Shall we?”

The next few hours are a blast. Despite their enthusiasm at the start, Ruby and Yang aren’t rowdy; they don’t shove anyone aside or try to sneak into places they otherwise weren’t allowed to. Clover learns that Ruby is something of a technological genius and artist, while Yang is quite good at boxing  and  football  and  dancing. They’re good kids.

“Mr. Ebi?” Yang nudges his shoulder as Ruby and Qrow are in the bathroom. She looks nervous, like she’s about to do something she shouldn’t.

“Just Clover is fine.” He gives a smile, and it assuages her enough to speak.

“Is this a date?” That....was not what he was expecting, but she continues. “I mean, if it  is  a date, no judging. I’m pan, so like. Solidarity. I just know that my uncle wouldn’t shut up about you to my dad, which I probably shouldn’t have said...but like, if it is, my sister and I can go somewhere else so you can—“

Clover turns red and throws up a hand to silence her. “A few things. One, thank you for telling me you’re out. Two, I’m gay, so solidarity indeed.” They fist bump and he finishes. “As for if this is a date...” He doesn’t know how to answer that, or even if he  can,  and the question remains between them even as Qrow and Ruby return. 

The question lingers in Clover’s mind for the rest of the afternoon, well into the evening. He makes sure to keep things normal, but he also can’t help but look at his friend in a new light now that Yang has revealed that information. He pays extra attention now to the breathy laughs Qrow gives when he thinks a joke is Fine and the raspy ones that convey he thinks it’s hilarious. How his red eyes look dazzling during the 360 degree slideshow of the cosmos. 

When the planetarium closes as the sun sets, Qrow and Clover linger near the former’s car. Ruby and Yang are sitting on the trunk of the car, not paying attention, but also Paying Attention. 

“This was fun,” Qrow shoves his hands in his pockets . “The kids had a good time.”

Clover smiled. “Did you have a good time?”

“Mmmm, it was alright. Certainly made up for interrupting my Friday night plans. Guess that means we’re square. 

“Guess so.” They both lean against the car in silence. Sensing the nieces, Clover looks behind his shoulder for just a moment to see Yang mouth two words to him over and over while Ruby nods enthusiastically. 

Qrow sighs. “We should get going. Knowing these two, they’ll want ice cream before we head home.”

“I won’t keep you.” Clover pushes himself off the car and takes two steps before stopping. Fuck it. He turns around. “Qrow.”

When his eyes meet Qrow’s, he asks with as much courage as he can. “Did you want this to be a date?”

Qrow looks away, conflicted. After some some silence, he looks at Clover again. “I think I did.” He answered. 

Clover lets out a breath of relief, and then walks over to Qrow so they can kiss. He pulls back soon after, delighting in Qrow’s shocked face.

“You can’t end a date without a kiss, right?” Before there’s an answer, Clover winks and walks towards his car. And if he hears hushed congratulations from the nieces, well. He won’t fight the smile that’s threatening to break out.

  
He never felt so lucky from getting stabbed. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And another one down! I wanted to get this out in time for St. Patrick’s and had fun writing it. I know people have complicated feelings about Clover and the Ace Ops in general, but I really liked them in season 7 and hope we get more of them.
> 
> Have a good weekend!


	5. Prelude to Noodles (Part I)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Years ago, Taiyang met the Branwen family. Years ago, Tai was a colossal moron.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah, so in what I’m sure isn’t a surprise to anyone who knows me, this is probably gonna largely consist of shitposts and the characters goofing around, with some occasional ship stuff and Serious Things. Sorry :P

Remember those three things you needed to know about Taiyang Xiao Long, back in chapter three? Remember that brief mention about  something  that happened at a Noodles & Company and a falling out with the Branwen family?

Well to put it plainly, the Branwen family didn’t take too kindly to Tai, and depending on which family member you spoke to, they originally fucking hated the blonde. 

This is partially why. 

Everyone at Beacon University knew that Tai was a flirt, full of cheesy one-liners that occasionally worked depending on if the timing was strong or if he smiled the right way. This wasn’t the case with Raven Branwen, whose red-eyed glare shut him down both times he tried. 

“Fuck off, Xiao Long.”

“You use one of those dumb lines on me, and they’ll be making a chalk outline for you by morning.”

Tai would’ve been out of Raven’s life after those attempts were it not for him being friends with her twin brother Qrow, and the two were damn near inseparable. Qrow being Qrow, he loved to drink, and one night he’d taken some good shit from the family shed. Raven could never back down from a challenge, and Tai was more than game to match them. 

Fast forward the following morning, Raven was rather surprised to learn she was using a shirtless Tai as a pillow. 

“This was a one-time thing, Xiao Long,” Raven insisted as she scrambled for her clothes. 

“Okay,” Tai shrugged. He kept his eyes strictly on the wall above him while behind, Raven was trying to find her bra. 

“ I mean it,” she stressed. “For god’s sake, if you tell Qrow—“

“I said I get it. I won’t say a word to Qrow, trust me.” He turned his head to her as best he could without looking like he was peeking. She didn’t say anything, but the huff must’ve been as close to acceptance as he would get.

So yeah, it was a one-time thing. Until the second time, where they were both sober. And the third time where they had time to kill between classes. And, well, you get the idea.

Tai kept to his word and didn’t tell Qrow that he was sleeping with his sister, but he  _ was  _ dumb enough to brag about getting laid to some of his friends while working at the gym late one night. In his mind, merely describing Raven as a “girl with a good ass” was vague enough without implicating her. (Yeahhhhhh, in the present day, Tai would and has absolutely copped to being not the best guy in the early 90s.) 

His boss, Hawke, was the most proud. He was a nice guy, old fashioned; burly with arms that could snap a tree in half, Vacuan accent that belonged to someone in one of those 70s crime movies and a beard that looked both bushy and put together. With a warm smile, Hawke had given him a helluva high five, and that was the end of it.

At least, until the Branwen family reunion a few days later he was invited to courtesy of Qrow. Tai had been happily munching on some finger food when Raven came out of nowhere, in a black and red leather jacket that hugged her figure nicely. “You clean up well,” she said after eyeing him up and down.

“Hey, thanks,” he beamed. “I shaved and got a haircut before I got here.”

She leaned in close to his ear and whispered, “Such a shame. I was looking forward to grabbing that head tonight.” Maybe her teeth graze his earlobe as well. It does the job, because Tai is scarlet when she’s pulled away. There’s a loud throat being cleared behind them, and Tai turns around, ready to apologize. 

And standing there is Hawke. Who looks just as surprised as he does.

“Sorry, dad,” Raven grumbled, looking away.  _ Dad???? _

Hawke looks at Raven, then Tai. Then Raven. Then Tai again. And his gaze hardens.

Tai leaves. He power walked outta that house like a white woman learning there’s an Old Navy sale one floor below, and he will admit that with zero shame.

Easy as it would be to fake his death and change his identity before moving somewhere else ( _ I wonder what Mantle is like this time of year,  _ he thinks later that night), he  does  eventually have to go to work.

It’s a few days later when Tai is forced into the office by his coworker Summer. She’s cute, but very excitable, and wanted his help in convincing Hawke to increase pay raises for the whole staff.

“The thing is, we’ve all been working really hard, and more people are coming in,” Summer is halfway through her speech when it begins. “And we’re not asking for much, just—“ There’s a loud rip and tearing next to her. Her eyes go to Tai, who is...taping something to his body. “Is that Kevlar....?” Tai doesn’t answer, he just continues to tape it to his body while staring at Hawke. 

Hawke, for his part, is leaning over his desk, looking like something just pissed in his cereal. (Summer thinks she sees his gun just near his hand.) “Alright,” he growls, “we are not going to pretend like there isn’t a big elephant in this fucking room.”

Summer looks between them both, clearly confused. “What the fuck is going on?”

Hawke reaches over to present his picture of Raven and Qrow from their high school graduation. _“_ _T_ _his is what the fuck is going on.” _

Silver eyes dart between the picture of the twins, then Tai. Then the twins. Then Hawke. Then Raven. Then Hawke. Then Tai.

*ding!*

Naturally, she jumps out of her seat.  _** “OH SHIT!! OHHHHHHHHHHH SHIT!!! HAHAHAHAHHAHHAAHHAHAAHAHA!!! ** _ _**”** _Spinning around, Summer has already rushed out of the office. _**“**_ _** GUYS!!!! HE’S FUCKING HAWKE’S DAUGHTER!! PAAHAHAHAHAHAHAH!!!” ** _

Hawke doesn’t keep his eyes off Tai, who has kept silent this whole time. “As long as she keeps doing that shit,”

_ “GOD!!!!” _

“It’s another bullet to your face.”

Summer can’t help how she high fives everyone, from Peter to James to Glynda, to even fucking _Ozpin_ while yelling this information for everyone to hear. Nor can she help pressing herself against the glass of Hawke’s office and cackling.

_** “ 🎶 TAI-YANG FUCKED BRANWEN’S DAUUUUUUUGHTER!!!! TAI-YANG FUCKED BRANWEN’S DAUUUUUUUUGHTER!!!! 🎶 ** _

**”S** **HIT!!! FUCK!!!”** Spent from running around, Summer has returned to the office. “I can’t believe you bragged to Branwen for fucking his daughter! And _you_ ,” A finger points to a still brooding Hawke, “You high fived him!!! For fucking your daughter!! JESUS! God, this is—“

Hawke grabs the gun and it’s pointed in her direction now.

At that, Summer has sobered up immediately and sat back down. “Really not that funny. Nothing to laugh about.”

Tai finally speaks up, albeit timidly. “I just wish to say...that it’s weird that you didn’t think to say you had kids who went to Beacon.” Fair point; Hawke was pretty reserved about his family life.

“Well Tai, I think it’s weird I haven’t shot your fucking dick off.” Hawke snapped. That was...also a fair point, all things considered.

Summer’s eyes shine with amusement. “Okay. Okay. Okay, what if...” She looks at them both, “Hawke gets to hit you in the balls really hard, just once?”

Hawke sighed. “Look, Tai.” He walks over and puts a hand on the boy’s shoulder. “I’m not going to hit you in the balls.”

The tension leaves Tai’s shoulders, and he gives a sigh of relief. “Thanks, Hawke. I—“

Out of nowhere, Hawke pistol whips him. “But I _am_ gonna do that.” He returns to his chair. “You’ll all get your raises by the end of the month. I was planning on it already.”

Summer smiles and gives him a hug. “Thanks, sir.”

“No problem, kid. Now, both of you get the fuck out. Take the day off, or I’ll prolly end up shooting you both.”

Summer laughs. And then she looks at his stony face and realizes he’s not kidding. “Cmon Tai, lets go.” Her hand drags him by the wrist out of the gym and back to his car.

“That went well!” Summer smiled. “Better than I expected.”

“I got pistol whipped in the face,” Tai pointed out, “and you now told everyone I slept with Hawke’s daughter. Repeatedly.”

“Ah, grow up, you baby. It could’ve been worse. You could’ve slept with Qrow, too.”

Tai is silent. Summer’s eyes go to look at him, but his eyes are locked onto the wheel.

.... _“H_ _OOOOOOO-LY SH— “ _

Tai starts the car.


	6. Game Time (Part I)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Weiss wants to get into video games. It goes...well, how do you think with these goofballs as her friends?

It’s towards the end of freshman year when Weiss Schnee, of all people, asks for recommendations on video games. They’re all just at McDonald’s eating when she poses the question, and everyone looks at her like she just grew another head. 

“What?!” Her cheeks reddened in outrage. “I just—sometimes, I hear Jaune and Marrow talk about video games before class, and I realize I can’t really contribute anything to the conversation.” 

That makes more sense. After getting past her initial frosty period during the first month (more like month a half, if you ask Yang) where she was rude and borderline insufferable, they all found Weiss to be somewhat awkward and eventually nice, in her own way. 

“Weiss,” Blake began, “you don’t have to play video games if you don’t want to.”

“No one’s forcing me,” Weiss said in her classic “I’m My Own Boss” tone. “But games weren’t really a thing in my household growing up, so, I want to see what I missed out on.”

“We got you,” Yang said with a classic finger gun. “This is gonna be so fun.”

“We are probably going to overdo this,” said Ren at the same time. 

* * *

**Ruby**

A few days later, during a weekend without any pressing matters, Ruby has decided Weiss would be coming home with her and Yang. Tai and Summer are gone when they all get there, and Zwei is napping peacefully. 

“Okay, so I was thinking it over with Yang,” Ruby said as they walked upstairs to her room, “and I picked three games that I think you’d like.” Ruby grabbed a controller and booted up the Xbox, tabbing over to one of her many, many, _many_ games. 

“Alright so like, this is a game with Disney characters?” Ruby shrugged. “Did you have Disney in your mansion fortress?”

Weiss resists the urge to smack her shoulder. “Ruby, I’m 18, I’ve seen a cartoon.”

“Alright alright, fine. Anyways, this has Disney characters and also anime characters, kinda? You’ll be fine.” Ruby sits on the bed patiently next to Weiss as a piano softly plays. Ruby presses all the buttons before eventually selecting New Game and passing the controller to Weiss. 

“This a good song,” Weiss mused as the cutscene plays. Behind them both, Yang hums, checking her phone as they play. 

“It’s so good!” Ruby beamed. “I got to see her in concert once and it was amazing! Okay, this intro will take forever.” Again, the controller is in Ruby’s hand so she can press some buttons with a scary quickness. “Now we can get to the game part!”

Weiss mimics waits as cutscene fades in and the characters start talking. “Ruby...which Kingdom Hearts did you say this was again?”

“The third one,” Ruby replied. “But, like. You won’t be playing that long, I don’t think it’ll be a problem.”

Come 20 minutes later, this proves to be a vastly incorrect belief. 

“Ruby, you said this was the third one, so why does this say 2.9?”

“It’s nothing, don’t worry about—yes, it is nothing, Yang.” Ruby smacked Yang’s leg before continuing. “It’s just an in-joke.”

“Right...” Weiss is skeptical, but let it go. “But why are his shoes so big?”

“THANK YOU!” Yang shouted. “I told Ruby you would notice.”

Ruby sighed. “Okay, lets try a different game.” She took the controller from Weiss and tabbed over to another game. 

“There’s 13 of these?!” Weiss screeched.

”Ehhhhh,” Yang shrugged, “there’s more like 100.” At Ruby’s glare, she shrugged again. “She asked!”

Ruby groaned. “Look, it doesn’t matter, Weiss.”

”100 games????” Weiss gave Ruby a look of disbelief.

”...It mostly doesn’t matter, look, the numbered ones are the important ones, and they’re not connected! Except when they are. Or when they’re in a fighting game. Or in Kingdom Hearts, actually. But it’s fine, this one is its own trilogy—“

“Ruby please pick something else, for the love of god.” 

Dejectedly, Ruby settles on the next game over. “It’s fantasy times and you’re gonna be a great hero,” she explained succinctly. “Just pick your character and do the thing.”

“Name your character Ethan,” Yang implored. 

“I am _not_ naming my woman character Ethan, Yang,” Weiss had said. 

This one had gone decidedly much better than the previous one; Weiss took to her magic using character quite well, who she had named and modeled after herself. Obviously. 

After about an hour of that though, the three girls took a break to get food. Upon returning to the game, Yang made it to the controller first. “Alright, of these playing roles. The Ice Queen here needs to play a game where you learn victory through hardship.” She grinned. “Weiss, grab that other controller.”

* * *

**Yang**

“Listen Schnee,” the blonde began, “this game is simple. It’s just you versus me with nothing but our wits and our skill.” With that, she selected her game of choice. 

“Yang, please. This isn’t going to be fun for her,” Ruby whined. “You’re just gonna be a dick.”

Her sister didn’t pay her any mind. “Okay Weiss, we’re going to make this simple. All you have to do is beat me in one match.”

Weiss raised an eyebrow. “That’s it? I won’t have to clean your car by hand or buy you some expensive muscle powder?”

“Pffff, please, like I would let you touch Bumblebee. But yeah, that’s it. Just beat me in one match, and I’ll teach you everything I know.” Now at the character select screen, Yang said, “Now choose your Kombatant.” Above the blonde’s head, the word appears as she speaks it aloud.

“How....how did you do that?” Ruby asked. 

“Ruby, stop. Which one is the best?” Weiss asked. 

Yang said, “Well personally, I’m a fan of my girl Jacqui right here—“ she stopped to select said character— “But since you’re a beginner, it probably wouldn’t hurt to go with Sub-Zero here. And no,” she threw up a finger to cut Weiss off, “This isn’t because ice pun.”

Sighing, Weiss selected the blue ninja. “Okay, so how does this work?”

_—Weiss learns the basics here, if you’ve played one fighting game tutorial, you know how this part would go—_

“Alright you ready to throw down?” Yang asked. As she explained everything to Weiss, the map had already been selected, and the two game characters were standing idly.

“I think so?” Weiss said, more than a little overwhelmed. 

“Here, lemme—“ The blonde gingerly took the controller from her friend to hit pause. “If you go here, you can select moves to pop up on the screen and make sure you’re doing them right. Try one.”

Controller back in her hand, Weiss fiddled a bit. It took longer than any of the three girls to admit, and several demonstrations from both sisters to show “no Weiss, you do it like this.” All the whole, Yang had set her controller aside, promising she wouldn’t attack until Weiss herself landed a solid combo on her without any help. 

“Okay, lemme...” Inputting the controls correctly, Weiss beamed as her character performed a combo on Yang’s. “I did it! I did it!!!”

“You did, Weiss!” Yang smiled. “I’m proud of you.” And then like a switch, her face changed. Yang grabbed her own controller and used her character to viciously demolish her friend’s. 

“I...you...” Weiss pointed at Yang, then the TV, confusion on her face. “Why?”

 _“FINISH HIM!”_ The TV boomed. 

With a smile on her face, Yang said: “So I could do this!”

And Weiss was forced to watch as her character got viciously and gruesomely murdered.

 _“FATALITY! Jacqui Briggs wins!”_ The TV bleeps as a yellow icon pops up below. 

“Thaaaaaaaaank you, I got the achievement I’d been trying to do, but Ruby was being selfish and stopped playing with me anymore.”

“Because I knew you’d do this!” Ruby argued. 

Weiss stared at Yang, betrayal in her eyes. “You used me... _for digital satisfaction?”_

“Lesson one, WS,” Yang said, “anything goes when it comes to fighting games. You wanna play another round?”

It was the last thing she said before Weiss throttled her.

* * *

**Blake**

“Just promise me this isn’t a fighting game,” Weiss said, nervousness in her voice. 

It had been a couple days since the Yang Betrayal, as Weiss had called it (Yang, naturally, went for the Yangtrayal, but it just didn’t flow right to catch on). 

Amused, Blake volunteered to let Weiss come over to her apartment and play on her PS4, since her roommate would be gone all evening. Upon booting up her console, Blake had let friend choose between some game where you could date a bird—“It’s much better than it sounds,” Blake had insisted, and Weiss was curious enough to promise that would be her pick next time—followed one where you were all alone in a dark space station, and another where someone in a robe was in the desert going on some journey. Weiss had picked the latter. 

Two hours and five minutes later, Weiss was weeping in Blake’s arms about how we were all connected in the endless desert that was life.

Now on the hunt for a game that wouldn’t make her friend bawl her eyes out, Blake finally settled on one she admitted to playing when she was feeling especially angry about the rich: _Hitman 2._

“I promise I will not pull a Yang on you,” Blake assured. 

“This game is simple and honestly cathartic,” said Blake. “It’s just you as an assassin.”

“Um...”

“Who only goes after the rich and powerful.”

“I am not as concerned about you now.”

Blake softly smiled and handed the controller to Weiss. “Just follow the instructions and you’ll be fine. If you mess up, you can reload a save file. And if you need me, I’ll be here reading.” Patting Weiss’ shoulder, the black-haired girl put on her kitty-shaped earmuffs and opened her book. 

40 minutes later, Weiss nudged Blake’s leg. After inserting her bookmark, Blake turned to her friend. “Finished?”

“I had fun,” Weiss nodded. “I had to restart a few times, but I think I did good.”

“Nice. Which method did you use to kill the guy?”

Weiss goes silent a moment before she asks, “There are other methods?” Her scarred eye twitched.

And Blake has blanched because it suddenly occurs to her that _Hitman 2_ is the worst game to give to a perfectionist like Weiss Schnee. 

Needless to say, Blake doesn’t sleep in her room that night. In fact, as Weiss tries for the fifth time to complete Three-Headed Serpent and kill Delgado and Martinez with the former’s statue, she opens up her phone and sends a message to Ruby and Yang. 

_I think we should let JNPR deal with her._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, so I think we all kind of agree that Weiss has some cultural gaps in growing up, and one of them would naturally be video games. I tried to think about what games each character would play based on who they are on the show, hence Ruby playing RPGs and Blake loving herself visual novels or stealth games.
> 
> The reason I didn’t list every game they were playing was because honestly I thought it would feel more like I was advertising instead of making this be about a friend trying to fit in.
> 
> Though, just for the record, each game in order: Ruby was Kingdom Hearts 3, Final Fantasy 13, Dragon Age II, Yang did Mortal Kombat 11, and Blake did Journey and Hitman 2. (Her suggested games were Hatoful Boyfriend and SOMA.)
> 
> Thanks for reading! Wash your hands!


	7. D&D Night

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “I can’t believe I let you convince me to do this,” Pyrrha says. Despite her words, she’s smiling.
> 
> Jaune smiles with her. “DM’ing isn’t so hard. You’ll be great at it, I promise.”
> 
> It’s D&D night. Roll for initiative! Pyrrha tells a tale.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> :)

** The home of Jaune and Pyrrha Nikos Arc. Years from now.  **

  
“All set?” Jaune asks as he walks into the front room. In the center of the table, meant for 8 people (or 10, should a pair of extra guests come and one side needs to bunch up), is a large and intricate map of north Vale and Mountain Glenn. Next to the map is a tub of colorful plastic figurines 

Pyrrha sits at the far end of the table, in a wood chair that has a strip of tape on it labeled “Dungeon Master.” The redhead nods, biting her lip before answering, “All set.”

He walks over to her. “You nervous?” When she nods, he continues, “Don’t worry. You’re Pyrrha Nikos—“

“Nikos-Arc.”

“ _Nikos_ ,” he dodges her half effort jab, “you can do anything. Even DM for a one-shot.” He gives her a smile before leaving her to answer the knock at the door. As he leaves, Pyrrha sighs and squares her shoulders. Her husband returns a moment later with Ren, Nora, Yang, and Weiss. Hugging them all and ignoring the glances thrown her way by Nora in particular, she has to remind herself she can do this. 

She can do this. 

Another 20 minutes pass and the remaining members of the “D&D as Directed by P” Night (Nora named it, _obviously_ ) file in. Sun wraps up Pyrrha and Jaune in a big hug, while May and Marrow and Jaune do their standard elaborate handshake. Once the festivities are over, they all take their seats, character sheets and dice on the table. 

“Okay, this is my first time,” Pyrrha’s already got finger guns aimed at Yang and Nora, “so please go easy on me.” 

_“Waaaaaaait!!!”_ Nora pulls out her phone and aims it at her best friend. “We have to record the scene setting moment for posterity!” Everyone laughs, then she shushes them and counts down with her fingers. 5, 4, 

3\. 

2\. 

1.

Taking a deep breath, Pyrrha starts. “Our story begins in a world, like ours, but not entirely. It is modern, yet, but there are monsters in the world. Monsters made of darkness and bone, fueled by hate and fear, and seemingly never ending.” Green eyes turn to her husband, who watches her with rapt attention and a smile on her face. She takes a deep breath and continues. 

“But this is not about them. This is about an adventurer, or rather, a person who will soon be one. Right now, they know nothing about themselves, not even their own name. All they know is that they’ve answered the call to adventure and their journey to explore the world will begin in full in nine months.”

Pyrrha doesn’t pay attention to the soft gasps from everyone not named Nora, or the way Weiss and Sun take out their phones to join the actress in recording. She just focuses on Jaune’s face, which has just so many emotions as he processes her words. 

First there’s confusion, then the words sink into his mind. He gives her a Look—it’s the one she remembers on his face shortly before he said that he loved her the first time—and his eyes go wide with shock. Without a word, he gets out of his chair and walks over to her. 

Jaune looks down at his wife, so many emotions on his face. He’s clearly trying to not cry as he whispers, “You’re really—“

She cuts him off with a vigorous nod as she stands. “Yeah.” Now  she  can’t help but cry and smile. “Yeah, I am.” Louder, she says to everyone and the cameras: “I’m pregnant!” 

And with that, Jaune bursts into tears. The entire table erupts into happiness.  
  


**@PyrrhaN1kos** this champion has a new challenge: pregnancy! [image IDs: a crying Jaune Arc hugging Pyrrha, Pyrrha kissing Jaune, a character sheet labeled “Baby Arc,” scratched out with Nikos, which is then replaced with Arkos]

** JArcWrites, RubyRoses, BangYangYang, and 25 others liked this  **

**@marrAwwwmin** congrats to you both!!

**@lawyercharm** fantastic  💚💚💚

**@norathora** y’all he cried. So much more than what you’re seeing. It flooded their house

**@sunflowryn** you cried too

**@norathora** this isn’t about me  
  


**@JArcWrites** My wife is pregnant! And she told me using a D&D one shot!! Thanks @norathora and @BangYangYang for recording all my tears  😭😭😭😭 [image ID: Pyrrha smiling, Pyrrha crying, a character sheet labeled “Baby Arc,” scratched out with Nikos, which is then replaced with Arkos character sheet, Pyrrha smiling again, Jaune crying and also smiling]

** PyrrhaN1kos, SunsGuns, SeaTune, BlakeBelldnna, and 19 others liked this **

** @SaphTer  ** 😱😱😱 my baby bro is having a baby!!!

** @RubyRoses ** was she a good DM?

**@SunsGuns** bro, 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> :)
> 
> Emojis aside, this was a cute one I just felt like I needed to get outta my system. Sorry for lying with the title, but I do actually wanna get the gang to do D&D at some point.


	8. Weiss’ Work Out Plan

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Weiss goes to the gym and is a useless gay.

It’s Saturday at 9:42 AM when it happens. 

Weiss has just woken up, hair still mussed from bed head and checking her phone for any news. In her other hand is a cup of freshly brewed coffee, and she’s content. Maybe today, she’ll go to the Art Museum or read a book.

Unfortunately for her, those thoughts are interrupted by a soft knock, followed by the door being kicked open as Yang Xiao Long and Ruby Rose throw themselves into her apartment. Yang points a finger at her. _“Weiss Schnee!”_

Weiss screeches and puts a hand to her chest. “What the hell?!”

“It’s been two weeks and twice as many excuses, but no more! Today, you are coming to the gym with us!”

Ruby waves a hand and says in a much more calm manner than her sister, “Hi, Weiss!” 

Still in the process of calming down, Weiss takes a moment to understand the demand given to her. When it all cycles through her mind, she groans. “Did you really just kick open the door to my apartment for this?”

“Yes l I did!” Yang declares. “And I already apologized to your neighbors about waking them up so early for this! Now,” she claps her hands, “chop-chop. I wanna get there early before they get all the good parking spots.”

The white-haired girl sighs. “You’re not going to leave until I do this, are you?”

There’s dual smiles from the sisters as they say in unison: “Nope!” Dejectedly, Weiss leaves the table and heads for her room to get ready. She brushed her teeth, put her hair into a ponytail (it was getting _way_ too long, it may be time for a cut soon) and wore some casual clothes; a simple white t-shirt and light blue shorts. She’d also brought a bag of toiletries and a change of clothes in case the sisters had the urge to do something else after all this. After getting the thumbs up of approval from Yang and Ruby, Weiss got into her car, following the sisters to their destination.   
  


As is always the case for shenanigans involving Ruby or Yang, it began with a simple conversation. The latter had been talking about how she’d seen some guy named Dee--or was it Dudley?--”beef it” at the benches and cause the bar to slam on his chest, hard. Ruby had mentioned how long it had been since she’d been to the gym, and then Weiss admitted that she’d never really worked out before. Beyond mandatory PE classes at Atlas Academy and ballet, she’d not gone to a gym meant for well, the “common folk,” as her father might say. The sisters offered to go with her whenever she wanted, and one or both of them would later ask her when they went to go work out. But Weiss’ excuses ranged from video chatting with her sister to having homework, and she believed that to be the end of it. 

Until today, apparently. 

After parking and getting a guest pass from a nice dark-skinned girl named Harriet, the three walked into the ladies’ locker room. Weiss had just finished putting her bag in her locker and securing it when she turned and saw Yang shed her leather jacket, showing off her defined arms through the ripped sleeves of her shirt. Which, fine, Weiss had seen those before, but then the blonde raised her arms up, revealing a patch of skin that hinted at a toned set of abs. And suddenly, Weiss feels her face grow hot like someone just cranked the heat. 

Oh, right. Weiss also didn’t go to the gym because she was pretty certain she would die from being _so totally gay._ (Well, okay, she was fairly certain she still had an attraction to men. But, women tho.)

Unaware of her friend’s crisis, Yang shuts her locker, stuffing her phone into her pocket. “Meet us upstairs when you’re ready, we’re gonna start with some stretches.” After patting Weiss’ shoulder, Yang departs. Weiss shuts her eyes and takes a breath. This is fine, she’ll just be working out with her two friends. What’s the worst that could happen?

As it turns out, the answer is everything. Yang is attractive, Weiss wasn’t so silly as to pretend this wasn’t true, but seeing her in gym attire and working out is another matter entirely. The girl’s muscles, from her arms to her abs are mesmerizing, so much that she finds herself sweating as they go through some light stretching. 

It goes like this for half an hour: one of the sisters demonstrates an exercise and as they do their set, Weiss follows along, albeit at a slower and lessened pace. In all honesty she does feel like she’s learning, but the problem is that Yang is hot has those _arms._ So. It’s a problem. 

Nearly an hour later, Weiss is going to get water and as she looks up, she sees someone on what Yang called a salmon ladder. Whoever it is also has a killer set of abs and that just sends Weiss’ mind running when they drop to the ground and _holy shit, it’s Pyrrha._

The redhead takes notice of her, jogging over. It’s unfair how radiant that girl looks even as she’s wearing a red sports bra and jogging shorts. She waves. “Hello! I see the sisters finally got you to come to the gym.”

Keeping her voice composed, Weiss snorts. “Only after kicking my door down.” 

Pyrrha laughs and grabs a towel to wipe at her red face. “Yeah, that sounds like them. Hopefully you’re getting a good workout?”

 _God I wish that were me,_ Weiss thinks. “I...don’t hate it. Are you—“

There’s a loud roaring sound that spooks the white-haired girl and she nearly drops her water bottle. Rolling her eyes, Pyrrha walks past her, muttering to herself and ever curious, she follows to where Ruby had pointed out was the Dumbell Domain. 

Is it any surprise that Nora is lifting weights? Quite honestly, no; the plump redhead has always been strong—she’d once joked about being next in line to play Thor in one of those Marvel movies and Weiss could believe it. Her arms were bigger than Yang’s and like the blonde, she’d decided to go with a shirt with sleeves clearly ripped off today. Currently, she was doing push-ups, with four weights of differing sizes stacked on her back. 

Next to her, Ren had dumbbells in his hand and was doing lunges, doing a curl with each alternating leg. He’d opted to go shirtless, because that’s the kind of day Weiss is having. 

“Sorry,” Pyrrha apologizes. “When Nora screams like that, either she’s doing really good or really bad.”

Weiss opens her mouth, but then motherfucking Jaune Arc walks around the corner, looking damp with a towel around his waist and _son of a fuck, even he has abs_. (Not as many as Ren and Yang, or even Pyrrha, but abs nonetheless.)

“Oh, hey Weiss,” he gives a short wave before turning to speak with Pyrrha.

Weiss can’t help herself. It’s been a weird morning and her friends are attractive, and so she responds the only way she can: by slapping him in the stomach, _hard,_ and loudly shouting **_“PUT A FUCKING SHIRT ON!!!”_ **before pushing him to the floor. And then she power walks away, ignoring his yelp of pain and weak cry of: “My ankle!”

Flustered, Weiss finds herself going upstairs just to get away from it all, putting her head in her hands as she sits on one of the mats. “What the hell is wrong with meeeeeeee,” she groans. 

“Weiss?”

Looking up, she sees Pyrrha kneeling down in front of her, concerned etched on her face. “You alright?” When Weiss doesn’t speak, she asks, “You thinking about heading home?”

Gulping, Weiss nods. “I think I’m just very exhausted and it’s all starting to hit me at once.” 

The green eyed girl chuckles. “Yeah, that happens. I’m sure they had you do a lot today, but I hope you had a good time.”

“It....wasn’t horrible.” 

It’s enough for the Greek, who gets up with a smile. “I’ll tell the sisters you decided to call it.”

Weiss smiles. “Thanks, Pyrrha.” As her friend smiles and walks away, Weiss has to remind herself not to look at her butt. _Don’t do it, don’t do it, just be not a disaster once today, for God’s sake—_

She has a weak will. 

As she sneaks a glance at said butt, she hears a whistle and from across the way is a tan-skinned girl probably around her age with very short hair. The girl’s eyes narrow, about as light blue as Weiss’, and then she smirks before putting her arms above her head, throwing her chest out, all while looking at Weiss. She winks. 

Weiss leaves. 

  
  


About ten minutes after Weiss has gone home, Ren is doing a plank as Nora twists her upper body back and forth. There’s silence between them before Ren asks: “You know she left because she was checking us all out, right?”

“Totally,” Nora replies, grinning. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Lmao poor Weiss


	9. The Abandoned

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yang Xiao Long could count the number of times she's interacted with Marrow Amin on one hand. But that doesn't mean she'll let him fall into a pit of despair not too dissimilar to hers.

Yang Xiao Long could count the number of times she interacted with Marrow Amin on one hand. She remembers seeing him at freshman orientation back in August, and maybe one time when she was grabbing some mechanical pencils from Jaune. (During said orientation, he was awestruck at everything, and it was kinda cute, like a human puppy.) What she knows about him is barely more than the number of times they’ve interacted; he’s a sociology major like Blake, and Harriet is his cousin. She has no negative feelings about him, but also nothing positive either. 

All of this is to say that there’s no reason for her to walk over to Marrow when she sees him at the gym, just wailing on the punching bag. She could continue with her afternoon and it would be a-okay. _But,_ she was raised by Summer Rose, the Nicest Woman on the Planet. So instead, she walks over to him and taps his shoulder, spooking him enough that he nearly faceplants on the floor if she hadn’t grabbed the back of his shirt and pulled him up. 

“Sorry,” Yang apologizes. Marrow grunts in appreciation and starts back up again, pointedly ignoring her. Normally, she would take that as a sign to leave, buuuuuut instead she stays. “Shift your back foot a bit to put more weight behind your punches, gives you better balance.” 

Marrow doesn't have headphones in, which means he heard her, but continues to pretend like she isn’t there. Feeling more than a little cheeky, Yang goes behind the bag and, when she sees her opening, pushes it towards him. He nearly falls ass backwards, and when he recovers, he glares at her and warns, “Not today, please,” before walking off. 

Yang lightly jogs over to him and tries to keep the smugness outta her voice. “I mean, I _did_ tell you, and I’m a boxer’s daughter. So I know what I’m talking about.” 

“Bully for you,” Marrow says dryly. “Look, do you want something? I’m not in the mood.” He walks over to a paper towel dispenser and wipes the sweat off his forehead.

“What’s the matter, they run outta volumes of _RoboShogun_ at the manga store?” 

He throws his paper towel away and hisses out, “Seriously Xiao Long, do me a favor and _fuck off_.” For good measure, he shoves her. 

There are two ways Yang usually responds to someone shoving her. Option A is, well, to punch them in the face and make them regret their life choices. It’s served her well, and it would be _so_ easy to go with this option right now. But as she clenches her fist, she looks at him, _really_ looks at him. She’s the one in the wrong here, and giving him a black eye would be more than a little hypocritical. 

Instead, she takes a deep breath. Calmly as she can, she says, “I’m sorry, Marrow. I didn’t think you’d be so upset by that. What’s wrong?” When he doesn’t answer, she tries again. “Seriously, talk to me. I know something’s eating at you.” He tries time leave, but she shuffles her feet and blocks his path.

Realizing that there’s no way he can get out of this, Marrow sighs in exasperation. “Fine, but not here. Meet me at the park in 10.” Yang nods, and he walks to the locker room, no doubt to get his things.

* * *

Everyone often assumes that Yang is a ditzy, vapid girl because of her appearance, but that couldn’t be further from the truth. In reality, she’s often the Mom of her friend group, the one everyone turns to when they just need someone to listen or be there as they go through their own emotional process. (She’s gotten very good at doing push-ups with someone on her back, like Weiss going into a tirade about her father, or Jaune reading his work aloud just to make sure it sounds right to someone other than him.) As such, she’s gotten very good at knowing when a proverbial dam is about to break, and 8 minutes into sitting on a park bench with Marrow in silence, she feels like it’s time to plant the explosives. 

Beginning the next part of her plan, she stands up, making sure to grunt as she gets to her feet. “Alright, if you’re not gonna talk, I’m gonna head home. Later, man.” She takes a few steps towards her car, counting down in her head. _In 3, 2..._

Marrow swallows the lump in his throat and says one word: “Stay.” He looks up at her and adds, “Please.” 

_Gotcha_. Putting on an aloof facade, she rejoins him at the bench. “Ready to talk?” 

He nods slowly. “I had this friend back in Atlas, his name was Forest. I met him when I was in middle school and we took a field trip to Atlas High. He was only two grades ahead of me, but we connected like _that_.” He snaps his fingers and smiles to himself. “He didn’t talk down to me, didn’t treat me like a kid. Whenever I was around him, I felt so happy.” 

Yang nods. “He sounds great.” 

“He is. Or, he was.” His soft smile is replaced with a frown at the past tense. “The last time I saw him was at mine and Hare’s graduation party months ago, and we kept in contact and hung out a few times over the summer before I moved. But after that, we started talking less and less. Sent him a photo of me and Hare at orientation, and never got a reply. Texted him every other week or so, and didn’t get a hit then, either.” 

“Maybe he’s just busy at work?” Yang doesn’t know the guy, but that seems likely, whatever job he does. 

The dark skinned boy laughs softly, “Yeah, I thought that, too. And so I tried to contact him on social like Twitter or Facebook, and he was just gone. Hit him up on Xbox, never responded. He just stopped wanting anything to do with me. 

Yang feels a twist in her gut at his words. Suddenly, she feels herself transported to a situation she was in a few years ago, tears down her face and eyes red with rage. Shouting at a woman who came back into her life not out of choice, but of happenstance, by virtue of failing to update her contact history. 

A woman who left her when she was just only a few weeks old. 

Unaware of his friend’s introspection, Marrow continues, staring up at the sky. “I think the worst thing is that I didn’t get a chance to say goodbye, y’know? He doesn’t want me in his life anymore, I get it. Maybe he outgrew me, but,” He’s at a loss for words. Yang looks over, and tears are streaming down his face. “It’s so unfair,” he finally says. His voice is equal parts anger and betrayal. “I just always thought he’d be a part of me even after I left Atlas.” There’s something deeper in these words, in the way he talks about Forest, and like with everything else she does, Yang goes all in. 

“You loved him,” she says. 

He nods his head slowly and confirms it. “I did. Didn’t know it at the time, and I never told him, but...” 

Yang bites her lip, trying to find the words to help him, to be the sister for someone who would rather be angry at everything, her included. “Not all exits are made equal,” she finds herself saying. Her prosthetic comes to rest on his shoulder and squeezes it. “Some are beautiful and poetic, others are just abrupt and unfair.” 

“I keep replaying everything we did together in my head. Trying to find what I did wrong.” 

“I don’t think you did anything wrong. Sometimes, people just leave you, and you’re left there feeling angry and hurt.” She says it as tenderly as she can, using the words her father did for her when she finally broke down. The relationship between her and Raven is...well, not good, but better than what it used to be, and a big part of it was her parents helping her with her anger. 

“It happened to you, didn’t it.” It isn’t a question, and neither of them try to pretend it is. “How did you do it? How did you make it go away?” Light blue eyes go to look into lilac, hope on Marrow’s face even with the tears. 

“It doesn’t ever go away, not really,” Yang says, to his dismay. “But eventually, I learned to stop being angry, and to accept there was nothing I could do. I think my mother was going to leave us no matter what, and once I finally realized that, I realized that I didn’t have to let it hang over everything else I did.” 

Marrow wipes away his tears. “That seems like a lot of work.” 

“It is,” she states simply. “But, I guess having good friends will help make it easier. Like Jaune and Harriet. And me, too,” she adds after a short silence. 

“You’d do that for me?” He asks. When she nods, he sniffles again, and she’s worried he’ll resume crying before he throws his arms around her and buries his head in her shoulder. 

“Uhhhhh, Marrow?” Well, she wasn’t expecting _that_ , and clearly he wasn’t either, because he separates, face red as Ruby’s hoodie. 

“Sorry,” he apologizes, “caught up in the moment.” 

“No kidding,” she laughs, and it’s a sign when he giggles too. “Y’know, now that we’re friends, there’s something we have to do now to cement it.” 

He eyes her warily. “Yeah....?”

“Get ice cream and take photos together! It’s a Rose-Xiao Long tradition for anyone we become friends with.” She gives a wink to go along with her smile. “ _And,_ you’re paying.”

“Wha--fine, sure. But I’m not tagging you on IG.” 

* * *

About an hour later after their heartfelt talk and dairy excursion, Marrow returns to his apartment. Fresh out the shower and into fresh clothes, he grabs his phone and opens up Instagram, chuckling to himself at the photo he’s tagged in.

 **@BangYangYang** thanks @marrAwwwmin for the free ice cream, hope more are in store ;D [image IDs: a hot fudge sundae next to a a large cup of chocolate ice cream with snickers and gummi bears, Yang eating the sundae, Yang reaching for Marrow’s ice cream with him looking miffed, a content Marrow with a spoonful of ice cream in his mouth, Marrow smiling softly, Yang smiling while pressing her finger into the cheek of an unamused Marrow]

**JArcWrites, RubyRoses, BreeRightHare, and 10 others liked this**

Despite his earlier words, Marrow makes a post of his own, adding in the pictures Yang sent to his phone during his drive home. 

**@marrAwwwmin** got some 🍨🍨🍦 with this weirdo named @BangYangYang. She’s a’ight. 🐉 [image IDs: a hot fudge sundae next to a a large cup of chocolate ice cream with snickers and gummi bears, Yang balancing an empty ice cream cup on her head, Marrow smiling with a spoon of ice cream in his mouth, Marrow petting a dog, Marrow awestruck by his ice cream]

No sooner does he post it does a heart notification pop up. 

**BangYangYang liked this**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *whistles* So this suddenly hit me at about 11:30 on a Friday night, huh. Marrow quickly became my favorite character in Volume 7, and I'm interested in seeing where they go with him. His affection for RWBY and JNR is what helped me clinch this together, since if he glommed onto them instantly, he probably would to anyone else. I think most people who grew up can understand maybe developing a friendship and later crush with someone older and not really letting that go, even when you've grown. (Case in point, this largely happened to me just a year or so ago.) 
> 
> Using Yang felt obvious from there, given her whole everything with Raven. In a world where Tai and Summer are both alive and raising her, I think that while not all her abandonment issues would've disappeared, her parents would've given her enough love to where it didn't overwhelm her life. That said...expect the story of Yang and Raven soon. 
> 
> Thanks for reading, and for the love of god wash your hands and stay safe!


	10. Sins of the Mother

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Raven Branwen and Yang Xiao Long are mother and daughter. But they have only actually met three times.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Heads up, this is gonna be quite a long one. I thought about splitting it up into multiple parts, but later decided against it because I thought it would ruin the flow. Hope you enjoy this!

Raven Branwen and Yang Xiao Long are mother and daughter, but the truth is, they’ve only met three times. 

* * *

**Honorable Mention #1: Yang’s birth**

Yeah, if asked, neither would count the day that Yang was born as that first time because, well, the blonde didn’t know anything yet. She was just this ball of mass that had come out of Raven in the middle of July, red-faced and crying, with a little tuft of blonde hair that stuck to her forehead. Naming the child was out of Raven’s hands, because ever the charmer, Tai had managed to convince her that the baby should be named partially after him, regardless of gender. (“It’s a lucky name!” he defends to Raven’s unamused brow raise. “It led me to you.” It’s so sweet, but so cheesy that she wants to kick him down the stairs and if she weren’t 7 months along, she would.)

With her family now having been ushered out of her hospital room and Tai along with them, Raven is all alone with the newly born Yang in her arms. It’s hard to describe what she feels, and that’s because she doesn’t know _what_ to feel. Her mother and her mother’s friends and her grandmother all gushed to her with enthusiasm about how it felt to give birth to their kids. How she and Qrow were the most painful her mother had ever felt, but seeing them both washed that pain away; how she would know what to do once she laid eyes on what she had created. 

But the truth is, Raven feels nothing, like the last six hours screaming and nearly breaking Tai’s hand just didn’t happen to her. Holding this child, this girl who stares up at her with wide purple eyes—not red, like hers, which she feels disappointed in, because that would at least help this feel like she was holding her own daughter—feels hollow. It feels like her mother and all those other women lied to her, and she doesn’t know what to do about that. 

So she weeps, resting her forehead on baby Yang’s, just to give herself something to feel.

* * *

**#Meeting 1: The Funeral**

Yang is four years old when grandpa Hawke dies. 

She doesn’t know what dying is, not yet, but she remembers playing with her grandpa, how he taught her how to throw a punch, how he and grandma Talon gave her this super cool punching bag for her birthday. (Daddy didn’t look happy when she opened it up, but grandpa said she had to learn to defend herself, so it stayed in her room. She likes it.) She doesn’t know what a service is, or who everyone here is—besides daddy, momma, and little Ruby, the only one she recognizes is Unca Qrow—but there’s a _lot_ of people here, and they’re all so tall. So when the service is over and everyone goes to have food, she gives Qrow a smile convincing enough to get him to carry her. She doesn’t say anything as he goes around to various guests, unless she’s spoken to, in which case she says: “I’m Yang Xiao Long and this is my Unca Qrow!”

In between talking to everyone and eating, it isn’t a surprise when Qrow has to use the bathroom. He has Yang stand in front of the doors, promising to be back in just a moment. While she waits, the ladies room opens, and this woman wearing a black jacket comes out, dabbing at her face. 

Her mom always told her to introduce herself, so she says, “Hi! I’m Yang!” and it startles the woman. Her black sunglasses fall out of her hand and on the floor. Ever the nice girl, Yang rushes over and picks them up, thrusting them towards the woman. “What’s your name?”

The woman is old, maybe as old as Momma and Daddy, with long black hair and a scar that runs from her right eyebrow to across her nose and under her left eye. She looks about as happy as anyone else here. In lieu of answering, the woman gingerly takes the glasses back. “Thanks,” she says softly. She looks the child up and down before asking, “are you by yourself?”

“Nah, I’m waiting on my Unca,” she points a chubby finger at the boys bathroom. “I just can’t go in there.” She tilts her head to one side and asks, “Were you crying?”

Surprised at the bluntness, the woman nods. “Yeah, guess I was. I just never thought that old bas—uh, old man,” she corrects herself, “would go yet. Always thought he’d fight on forever.” She crosses her arms and leans against the wall. 

“Me too,” Yang admits softly. “My daddy always said grandpa was super strong and helped other people get strong. He was gonna help me be strong, too.” She sniffles, remembering the day she punched his hand and he fell over, declaring her the strongest girl in the whole wide universe. “I know my daddy said he’s in a better place, but...I miss him.” 

“I miss him too.” The woman walks over to Yang and kneels down to eye level, placing a hand on her shoulder. One hand goes to remove her sunglasses and Yang can see these dark red eyes that look like they’re about to be filled with tears. “But don’t worry, Yang. Something tells me you’ll wind up being strong all on your own.” 

Looking at her eyes...something about them feels familiar, and it clicks in the mind of the little girl as she hears the sound of a toilet flushing and rushing water. “You look like my Unca Qrow.”

Before anything else can be said, Qrow walks out of the bathroom, wringing his hands dry. He bends down to sweep her into his thin arms. “Alright Firecracker, let’s go find your folks.”

Yang tugs on his shirt. “But Unca Qrow! The lady!” When he pulls her back to look at her, she points behind him, “there was a lady here, and I was talking to her, and she looked like you!!!”

Qrow’s eyes go wide and he turns around. The woman is gone, no trace of her ever being in the hall with Yang. Licking his lips, the older man takes his niece back to her family, but for the rest of the day, Yang thinks of that woman. And when the family returns home, the four-year-old walks past the old photos of her parents and Qrow and one other woman when they all went to school together, blissfully ignorant of the similarities between the woman she met today and the one in the picture. 

* * *

**Honorable Mention #2: The Arm Incident**

If anyone asks, no, the mercenary known as Raven Branwen did not use her government contacts to keep an eye on her 13-year-old daughter growing up. And _no_ , she is not using part of her time off rushing to St. Gavin’s Medical just because one of those contacts reported her kid got into an accident. 

It wasn’t hard to eavesdrop on the staff and learn where the girl was being kept. She and Qrow learned when they were just Yang’s age to be quiet and unseen, and it had served her well here. It was easier this way, rather than actually inquiring. Too many questions. Too personal. 

So here she was, watching through the windows as her daughter was being operated on. She didn’t have the best view, but her right arm looked...bad. Just how fast was that fucking car going? Raven’s eyes narrow as she imagines the scenario in her head. Apparently, it had happened at a gas station and Yang had just gotten some snacks. The car had been going fast, and in fact was going to hit someone else had Yang not pushed them out of the way with all the force she could muster. It was noble, no doubt, but what good did it do her? Instead of doing the smart thing like pulling that person away, the stupid kid was now hurt because of them. 

Raven is angry, either at her daughter or the driver, but not so much that she can’t feel the presence next to her. She doesn’t tear her eyes away from the sight of the operation, but still she coolly says, “Rose.”

Focused on Yang herself, Summer Rose greets her former friend just as evenly, “Raven. It was my day off when I got the call.” When Raven doesn’t comment, she goes on, “I was talking to some of the other nurses, and they said her arm was stretched out when the car came. When she landed...”

Raven finishes the statement for her. “She has to lose it.” She scowls; Yang is just a kid, and something like that will break her. Make her weak. 

“Yes.” After another moment of silence, Summer turns to her, questions all over her face. The dark red-haired woman starts with the first: “How did you hear about this?”

“It’s none of your concern,” Raven says immediately, indicating this isn’t a path to go down. Such a time, when they were in college, that would shut down many of Summer’s inquiries about her and Qrow’s life when they were all getting used to each other. 

But it doesn’t work this time. Instead, Summer snaps, “It is _very_ much my concern, Raven. You left that poor girl when she was barely a month old to go do God knows what and gallivant around the world.” Scoffing, Summer adds, “This is the most motherly I’ve seen you be.”

Raven whips her head towards Summer, red eyes locking with silver. Her face twists into something ugly as she speaks into a low voice, “How does it feel, Rose? Playing the mother to a girl who isn’t yours? To be fucking a man who thinks of someone else when he’s with you?” 

Summer lets an airy chuckle out of her lips. “Is that the material you’ve been wasting 13 years on perfecting?” Not letting her old friend speak, the doctor continues, “This isn’t college anymore, Raven. You can’t use cheap shots, and I’m not going to have a pissing contest with you over who Tai loves more. All that matters is _her,_ ” a finger points at Yang, “so if you aren’t here to step up and be a parent, get the fuck out of here.”

One of their phones beeps. It’s Summer, she looks down and the tension is gone from her face as she says to Raven, “Tai is on his way. What’ll it be, Rae?” 

She’s baiting her, Raven knows this. Summer is a sweetheart, but she’s also mischievous as hell, and the years haven’t changed that. But Raven knows that to be here in the same room as Tai is an invitation to questions she would presently rather avoid. So she reaches for her old friend’s phone, quickly typing in her contact information, and a fake name. (Anna H.) “Tell me how she is, after.” It sounds less like a request and more like a demand. 

Summer nods curtly and Raven walks off. She quickly puts her long hair in a ponytail and throws on her sunglasses, hoping the disguise will be enough should she and Tai cross paths here in the hallway. That does indeed happen and she keeps her face pointed away from him as he and another kid rush past her, the two of them hand in hand. Now _Raven_ has questions, but this isn’t the time for that, so she continues her descent to the parking lot. 

Some hours later when she’s in her motel room, Raven receives a text from an unknown number. It simply reads _She’s okay._ The arm has been amputated, per Summer and Tai’s call, but beyond that and a concussion, Yang will be alright. Raven should leave it at that and block Summer’s number. 

But instead, she spends the next hour looking at prosthetics, going through different manufacturers, and rehabilitation clinics that aren’t far off from Patch. And then she hits up one of her old government contacts, during which she has to evade even _more_ questions because Christ, why can’t anyone just do things when they’re asked. 

There’s a man named Weller who can help with the rehabilitation, and another named Poledina who can handle the arm. She sends the links to both in a text to Summer, simply saying _Pick an arm and a schedule, and I’ll pay for them._ Not even two minutes later, Summer replies with a “Thanks.,” and while Raven doesn’t text much, she knows enough to understand what the period means. 

It’s getting late, and she’s getting tired, so Raven sends one last message before shutting off her phone. _When she’s healed up, tell her this is the only time._

She doesn’t know if she’ll hold to that rule, but the idea of it is all that gets her to finally sleep.

* * *

**Meeting #2: The Leg and the Bar**

By and large, Yang has learned over the years to roll the punches. (The punches that can actually hurt her, at least.) Like everyone else in life, she’s had some not so great days—that first month after the car accident that took her arm four years ago comes to mind—but she feels that with the help of her parents and Ruby, they’ve made her stronger. She’s good with that. But even she, someone who decided to prove all her sexist naysayers wrong when she tried for football and wrestling with a smile (and just plain succeeding) could not do this. This was too far. This was worse than getting the floss out of Zwei. Worse than going on a date with that guy who kept trying to look down her dress at homecoming. 

Because none of those incidents ever involved her birth mother living with the Rose-Xiao Long family. 

Let’s rewind. Yang’s mother Raven is a mercenary, or a CIA agent, or something, Yang doesn’t entirely care. Something bad happened, and whatever it was took her left leg in the process. That was devastating, yes, and Yang had sympathy. And then that sympathy morphed into shock when she learned that Raven would be posting up in their guest room during her recovery period as she went through the process of getting her own prosthetic over the course of the next year. Because Raven _somehow_ went though 17 years of Yang’s life doing whatever the hell black ops crap she did, never having a truly serious injury, and as such, didn’t bother to update her emergency contact information. 

When Raven learned about the new living situation, her reaction was about as equal to Yang’s: “Oh, _hell_ no.” But then Mom put a hand on Raven’s shoulder and flashed a smile that Yang knew meant “you are doing this and that’s Final.” And if Yang on her worst day could say no to Summer Rose, then neither could Raven.

\----------------

It’s been 9 long-ass months since Raven’s injury that previous May, and Yang still hasn’t gotten used to coming home and seeing her birth mother when she walks through the front door. Yang vaguely has an idea of what she does—currently, Raven’s globetrotting days doing alleged government work were replaced with being a private investigator, which is less physically taxing and means she’ll sometimes be gone for most of the afternoon and not return until 11 or midnight. She can’t really leave Patch, since Tai and Summer informed the doctor about the woman’s history with disappearing acts, and they both have favors they can call in for someone named Ms. Malachite. (Yang isn’t sure if she’s happy or sad that Raven vanishing isn’t exclusive to her.) 

So here Yang was, working on homework in the living room while Raven sat a few seats down, doing something on her laptop. It felt weird, and it’s been like this for two hours because Dad is still at school and Mom is getting groceries with Ruby, conveniently leaving without asking if Yang wanted to come. Her mom is way too clever sometimes.

“Pencil.”

The word snaps Yang out of her reverie, and she looks up at Raven. The older woman looks at her and repeats, “Pencil.”

Biting the inside of her cheek, Yang says, “What’s the magic word?”

Red eyes narrow at her. “Are you kidding me right now?”

“Nope!” She pops the ‘p,’ like Dad does. “In this house, we use manners when we need something.”

Sighing, Raven grits her teeth and asks, “May I _please_ have a pencil?”

Instantly, Yang shoots back, “All I have is this pen.” She shouldn’t take a delight in the death glare sent her way, but she does. If that woman murdered her today with a sword, it would be so worth it. 

_“Yang—“_

The blonde waves her off, tossing a mechanical pencil at her. She barely catches it. “Yeah, yeah, here’s your pencil. Don’t lay an egg.”

Huffing, Raven spins the pencil in her hands. “You’re about as funny as your father.”

“Well, y’know what they say. Everything good, I got from him,” Yang replies back coolly. She may have gotten her humor from Tai, but with Raven having lived with them for nearly a year, Yang now knows where her smart mouth comes from. 

The two break from their glaring competition just as the door opens and Ruby comes stumbling in, two grocery bags hanging off her wrists that both look like the handles are about to snap off. 

“Shitshitshitshit,” Yang mutters, quickly rushing over to her sister’s side and taking the two bags from her. 

“Thanks, Yang,” Ruby says appreciatively. The silver-eyed teen looks towards Raven and waves. “Hi, Ms. Raven!” It felt silly coming out of the mouth of a 15-year-old girl (wait, _16,_ as she so helpfully corrected back in the middle of February), but it was better than that time early into this when she suddenly called Raven “mom.” (That went about as well as one could expect, which is to say: Not Very.)

Raven doesn’t say anything, but it’s not like it matters because Summer enters the house next, setting her own collection of grocery bags on the floor. “Alright, Yang, move this to the kitchen and then help me unload the rest, Ruby, you put everything where it goes.”

“On it!” “Yes mom!”

This is something Yang has done dozens, if not hundreds of times before, a strategy that Mom came up with when both girls were old enough to actually help with the groceries. But doing it with Raven nearby and clearly watching them feels just so weird, like dancing in the bathroom and someone watching you from across the hall. Even as she tries to push it out of her mind, she still feels those red eyes on her every move. 

When the groceries are all put away, Summer plops herself on the couch. “So tired...if only my two brilliant daughters could make dinner instead of me...”

Yang goodnaturedly rolls her eyes. “Yeah, I’m on it. What are we thinking?”

Instantly, Ruby pipes up, “Pizza!”

Summer shrugs. “Your choice, honey.”

Hesitantly, Yang turns to Raven. It’s not like it matters, since she doesn’t eat with them, instead choosing to eat by herself in the guest room. That’s the way it’s been for months, and that’s the way it’s gonna be tonight. 

When Raven doesn’t answer, she hates how right she is. Frowning, she flatly says, “Pizza, coming right up.” 

\----------------  
  


**Raven.**

Despite this being her house once upon a time, Raven doesn’t feel like she belongs here. That’s to be expected, of course. She hasn’t stepped foot in this house in nearly 20 years, and now, it’s more out of obligation than anything else. Even on the first day of her extended stay, she could tell that there was so much history in these walls now, history of a family being built and thriving. It jabs at her heart to see the various pictures of Yang and Ruby growing up alongside Tai and Summer, and so on the first evening in the house, she had to tell herself to not care about any of these people, that this was just a rest stop before she got back to her old life. 

And what’s worse is that she can’t escape this love and happiness; the fact of the matter is that even if she tried and somehow succeeded in leaving, there isn’t anyone else who would take her. (She tried using Qrow as a last, last, _last_ resort, but an automated message telling you you’ve been blocked by your intended recipient changes your tune.) Between her leg and the threat of Malachite finding her eventually, staying is simply her best option. 

Being in this bed, this room, this house, is hard, not helped by the fact that she constantly feels like her left leg is throbbing. It’s gone now, but it still feels _there,_ just invisible, and it drives her up the wall with how much it fills her mind. She may have (read: definitely) punched a hole in one of her pillows the first time she thought about her leg and how it was no longer there, just a stump that cut off mid-knee. 

A knock on the open door tears her from her thoughts. “Ms. Raven?” Ruby says softly. She looks so much like her mother, from her punk fashion sense to the red and black hair, even those silver eyes. She’s like a clone of Summer, and it bothers Raven how much that endears the girl to her. “The food is ready, if you want to come down.”

Raven grunts in acknowledgement, and it’s enough for Ruby, because she leaves. Instead of going down, she stares at the wall of her room, letting the loud discussion of the family serve as background noise. It’s enough to keep the thoughts and the sensation of her missing limb from invading her mind. 

Some hours later, Raven finds she is indeed hungry and gets herself out of bed. She’s had the final version of her prosthetic for weeks now and still can’t shake how weird it is to look down and see the metal where flesh used to be; it’s getting warmer now, which means jeans and sleep pants can’t constantly cover it up like they used to during the colder months. 

Eventually she does get to the kitchen, and to her surprise Ruby is there as well, putting away the dishes. The girl sees her and perks up, and no doubt knowing why the late night appearance, heads to the fridge to pull out two decent sized slices of Yang’s homemade pizza to put in the microwave. 

Sitting down at the dinner table, Raven patiently waits for her food, drumming her fingers on the table as she watches Ruby finish the dishes. “Thanks,” she says when the teen puts the plate in front of her. It smells good. It’s got pineapples, green peppers and mushrooms on it, and Raven feels like there’s a story behind _that,_ too. 

Ruby smiles warmly and sits down as well, a seat between them. “I mean, I gotta clean the kitchen, so I might as well,” she says when Raven looks at her. The two sit in silence, with the teen pulling a notebook out from somewhere and sketching while Raven eats. 

Despite her internal mantra to not care about this girl or anything she does, Raven can’t help but ask, “What are you drawing?” Ruby hops to the vacant seat and presents her art. It’s a drawing of Yang, muscles bulging and her long hair floating in the air as energy surrounds her. Personally, Raven finds it pretty impressive and an accurate portrayal of her daughter. 

“It’s from this show Yang and I watch all the time,” Ruby admits. “These guys like to fight and then they go all,” she deepens her voice and screams as quietly as she can. “It’s so cool!”

“Oh god,” Raven sighs. “They still make that damn show.” She remembers Tai and Summer dressing like two of those characters for Halloween and how they tried to include her in those foolish karate uniforms. (“We could shave your head,” Summer had offered at the time. A cold glare from Raven did not shut down that train of thought.) 

“Yang and I used to watch it every day after school before we both got busy,” Ruby continues. She flips over to another page and this time, it’s Ruby wielding...a giant scythe? And she’s on top of a gold dragon. “It’s me!”

Raven can’t help but chuckle. “Yes, it is.” Suddenly Ruby looks at her with those narrowed eyes, lips pouted out as she strokes her chin. Then she snaps her fingers and flips to another page before drawing. “What are you doing?” The former mercenary asks. 

“Drawing you,” Ruby says like it’s the most obvious thing in the world. “Dad said one time you had a sword and you looked pretty cool with it, and I’ve drawn it a few times.”

Raven remembers the sword in question. It had been a replica of an Ōdachi used in a cheesy old samurai film, “Wrath of the Omen.” (That didn’t fully explain why it had a cross-guard and a trigger built into the hilt.) She and Tai saw it on one of their first actual dates together and she dropped a few hints that she enjoyed seeing the other films. So much so that at a con, he paid a person cosplaying the film’s lead character to let her hold and pose with it so he could take some pictures. “He told you about that?” It comes out with more emotion than she wants. 

“Well, he told _Yang_ when they were cleaning the garage and I just happened to be around the corner...”

“You were eavesdropping.”

“I was eavesdropping,” the girl admits with zero shame. “Buuuuuuut then we watched all the movies together and I couldn’t stop thinking about it. So I looked for it online and, y’know.” She shrugs and continues drawing. 

“Ruby.” She waits for her to hum in acknowledgement before continuing with the question that’s been on the tip of her tongue for a long time. “Why are you so nice to me?”

Again, Ruby looks up from her sketch. “What do you mean?” 

“Everyone in this house has a reason to hate me,” Raven explains. She already knows how Yang may try to rip her head off before this is all over and how Summer spent every waking moment for three months glaring daggers into her with those silver eyes. Both have softened towards her, Summer quicker than Yang, but the other issue is Tai. That man has never shown outward hostility, but he’s clearly uncomfortable at all times, and the two have actively avoided being in the same room with no one else around. But Ruby has been nothing but kind to her, taking her dishes, helping Raven move around when she needs it and even offering to drive her to the hospital for her physio appointments since it helps her get driving experience. (Raven refuses, since no one but her drives her car, but she lets Ruby tag along regardless.)

And all this niceness, from this single girl who was born in part because she left this family, has turned black inside Raven’s heart and festered for months. She had to get to the bottom of this. 

“Why...should I? Do you want me to?” Ruby asks this slowly, like she’s just been put on the spot, which she admittedly has. “I mean, I guess I can try to hate you if you want me to?”

“What I want is for you to be straight with me, kid. No one’s this nice.”

“Well,” a shrug, “I guess I am.”

“Bullshit,” Raven shoots back. “Everyone wants something from everyone. It’s how this world works.”

“Not mine,” Ruby says, and there’s an edge to those two words as she continues her work while staring Raven in the face. “I don’t know you, Ms. Raven. I only know what Mom and Dad and Uncle Qrow have told me, and it isn’t really much, because they don’t like to talk about you at all.” It’s a comment that stings Raven, but Ruby doesn’t wait before continuing. “But you’re in our house, because you’re hurt and you need us.”

Raven feels the need to refute that claim. “I don’t _need_ you—“

“You do,” Ruby cuts her off firmly. “So you can either let me help you or fight it, but I’m still going to be here.” To prove her point, she grabs the empty plate and puts it into the dishwasher before running it. And then she’s back in the dining room, eyes silently asking Raven if she needs help getting to her room. “Do you need anything else, Ms. Raven.”

“No, Ruby,” Raven's clipped reply comes. “Good night.”

“Good night.”

\----------------  
  


The following week sees a half day for Tai and the girls, meaning they come home at around 1 since extracurricular activities have been canceled. What that means is that everyone stays in their rooms for about an hour—Summer is off for the day, and Raven just plain doesn’t have anything to do but push-ups, walk around with the prosthetic and read. But then Tai, dressed in these truly ugly cargo shorts that have to be years old and a ratty t-shirt, grabs the girls and takes them to the backyard. 

Raven's been told none too subtly by Summer multiple times that Tai had taught Yang how to fight as she got older. Hawke had planted the seed in the girl’s mind not long before his passing, and she dove headfirst into it with martial arts and boxing classes a few years later. Eventually, Tai decided to save money and teach her everything he knew, which he had learned from Hawke back when he worked at the gym. 

Hearing about the skill was one thing and seeing it was another. Raven found herself unable to look away from the window as Tai and Yang sparred; youth made her daughter much faster, but also way more foolhardy and reckless. Tai took advantage of this, often letting her go on long strings of attacks before going on the offensive and putting her in a corner. Occasionally, Ruby would enter the fray to help one attack the other, but where Yang’s years of training was clear, the younger girl had no form. She seemed to just be trying anything that worked, like it was all a game to her. 

As if reading her mind, Summer looks up from her book and chuckles. “Ruby isn’t a fighter like those two,” she admits. “Poor girl didn’t even really want to fight until she got harassed by some bullies one day. They’ve both been going easy on her, but she’s learning.”

Outside, Ruby tries to do a jump kick at Tai, but he effortlessly sidesteps her and she falls into the grass. 

“....Right,” says Raven. She tears her eyes away from the fighting to look at Summer. “So. Ruby. When did... _that_ happen?”

Looking up, Summer dog ears her book before answering. “It wasn’t right away, if that’s what you’re asking. Yang was almost two, and he had finally put Yang to bed. We were talking about something unimportant, and then, I just...well. Y’know.” Her cheeks redden. 

Raven clicks her tongue and smirks. “Now, isn’t that ironic.”

“How so?”

She walks over to Summer on the couch and sits beside her. “See, now I seem to recall a conversation we had shortly after you learned I was pregnant. Do you?”

Raven has known Summer for years. As such, she’s gotten used to reading Summer’s face, and she knows exactly what the nurse is thinking when her silver eyes look off into the distance.

_Summer claps her hands in glee, giggling to herself like a little demon. “Of literally all the men you could've slept with to get pregnant, you chose Tai. You. Raven. Of all men. Let him put his penis insiiiiiii—“ She starts wheezing until her laughter is so much that she falls off the bed. Raven glares at her._

“I don’t know what you mean,” Summer says, fixing her face to be neutral. 

Raven’s not buying it. The dark-haired woman presses, “Really? You don’t remember—“

“Raven, please.”

“Laughing about how I got knocked up—“

“I swear to _God_ , Rave—“

“By the Prettiest Slut in Beacon?”

Summer reaches for the pillow behind her and smacks Raven in the face with it. Raven stares at her with wide eyes, shocked...and then she laughs. 

Raven laughs. 

And Summer starts to laugh with her. Raven’s pretty sure her sides are about to split from how hard she’s cracking up. 

“Uhhhh...what’s going on?”

So wrapped up in their laughter, the two didn’t notice the others had come in. Where Ruby looks relatively put together, Tai and Yang both have the sweat and grime to show for their hard work. 

“Just told a good joke, is all,” Summer says, covering for Raven. “How was the fight?”

“Dad won, _again,_ ” Ruby groans, heading to the kitchen to grab a soda. “Cuz he cheats.”

“Having experience isn’t cheating, kiddo!” Tai grins. “You just need to get better and you’ll beat me one day!”

“I’m gonna beat you before graduation, old man,” Yang warns, taking one of the sodas from Ruby. 

“We’ll see, Sunny.”

Raven clears her throat and then asks Tai, “Tell me: Did you ever stop having that tell?” Tai shoots her a look that says ‘shutushutupshutup,’ but she directs her next comment towards the girls. “Anytime his last two fingers twitch, it means he’s going to do a feint.” For good measure, she adds, “It’s something I told him about when _I_ won one of our fights.”

Yang’s face twists into a smirk. “Reaaaaaaally? Good to know.”

“Don’t look at me,” Raven shrugs at Tai’s displeased face. “You should’ve worked on being less obvious.”

Tai grumbles, but then Ruby pats him on the shoulder and offers him a soda. As her father drinks, she asks, “Dad, y’remember that band that we listen to sometimes on the way home from school?” 

He nods in remembrance. “The uh, Black Fang or something, yeah?”

“White Fang,” Ruby corrects. “They’re having a fan meet up at the Beacon Mall on Saturday and I wanted Yang to take me. Can we borrow your car, pleeeeeeeease?”

“I’m sorry, kiddo,” Tai tsks, “but the school’s having a staff conference that’s supposed to last most of the day, and your mom’s got her late shift.”

Ruby and Yang both groan at this news. But then the former perks up, silver eyes drifting towards Raven, who’s stayed silent the whole time. “Ms. Raven....can we borrow your car for a few hours? Please?” 

Raven should say no. She knows she should refuse because _no one_ but her drives her car, and it’s been that way with every vehicle she owns. But then she looks to Tai and Summer, who are both surprised at the request. At Ruby, eyes hopeful and pleading. 

At Yang, who looks at her like she already knows this is a lost cause. 

“Sure. I can take an Uber instead. Works better for me.” The response shocks them all, and Raven certainly gets satisfaction from that. “On two conditions.” She puts up a finger: “ _One,_ if I see a stain or mark on it, I don’t care which one of you did it. You and Yang will wish you could teleport after I’m through with you.”

Ruby gulps in fear. “And the second condition?”

Raven’s face softens. “Drop the Ms.. I’m not your school teacher.” The girl perks up again and nods fervently. “Don’t make this a whole thing, kid, it’s just a one-time thing.”

She doesn’t really believe it. And from the fond smiles they all give her, they don’t either. 

\----------------

**Yang.**

The rest of the week goes by, and true to her word, Raven hands her car keys to Yang at around 1:30 on Saturday, again stressing that it better be in the condition they got it in. Honestly, Yang was expecting her birth mother to demand something in return for this that was more substantial. 

And then, Raven had pulled a curveball on the blonde at the last minute. 

_“One more thing,” Raven jerks her keys away from Yang’s expectant hand. “And this is just for you, not Ruby.”_

_Yang sighs. “Yeah, what.”_

_“Sometime, before this all over, you and I are going to have a drink.”_

The way she said it made it seem like she would rather chew glass, but their eyes met for a brief moment, a silent contract between them. Satisfied, Raven had handed over the keys and let them go. 

Once Yang hops in the driver seat and they both become properly seated in the car—a black two-seater Mustang with dark red accents that looks fresh off the assembly line—Yang peels off the curb and begins the 2.5 hour trek to Vale Mall. 

After about 40 minutes of listening to the radio and randomly chatting, Ruby squeals with excitement, jostling the backpack in her lap that she’ll use to carry any swag she gets. Because there’s always swag. “I can’t believe we’re going to see White Fang!!!!”

“Forget that,” Yang grins, “I can’t believe Raven let us use her car to drive there.”

“I charmed her,” Ruby declares. “I’m a charmer.”

“Yesterday, you threw a bag of chips to one of your friends across the cafeteria, and it hit someone else in the face.”

“It’s part of my charm!”

“Suuuuuure, it is, Charmy.”

Ruby sticks her tongue out. “Well, my charm got us this car. And clearly my awesome art skills, cuz when I showed her that drawing I did of you, she said she liked it.”

“...Really?” Yang doesn’t even try to hide her skepticism there. “She said that?”

“Okay, not with her mouth, but I could tell. She does that thing you do where your left cheek twitches before you smile.” She goes silent for a moment before saying, “She’s actually not terrible if you talk to her for a bit.”

Yang sighs. She knew her sister would try something like this during their ride. Her prosthetic tightens around the wheel in frustration. “Yeah, I don’t think so, Rubes. Something tells me she and I don’t have anything to talk about.”

Ruby raises an eyebrow. “Really? You don’t have _anything_ you wanna get off your chest or ask about? Nothing at all while we’ve got her in our house?”

Yang bites her tongue. Of course she has things she wants to ask, demands she wants to make. But just two weeks into Raven’s stay, her birth mother had put up so many walls around her that not even the world’s most powerful drill could break through them. She was graduating in two months, and she wasn’t going to waste that time on someone who didn’t even try getting to know her. 

“Nope,” Yang says, ending the conversation there. The rest of the drive is nothing special; the girls sing songs poorly over the radio and Ruby takes more than her share of driving selfies to add to her Stories and tags Yang in all of them. It’s safe, and it’s what Yang needs to get her mind off things. 

\----------------

Yang has no real clue who the White Fang are. Sure, she’s heard Ruby sing a song or two, and maybe she’s heard them on the radio before she decided to just listen to her own playlists while driving, but she couldn’t tell you anything about them, not the names of any of their songs or band members. 

All of this is to say that this fan meetup is maybe perhaps lost on her; it’s a decent sized crowd at the mall, but the sisters perhaps should’ve left an hour earlier than they did, because they end up towards the end of the line. (Fortunately, security is nice enough to let Ruby leave the line and get food for them, because they actually haven’t eaten since this morning.) There’s a speaker somewhere above them playing the songs of the band, and they’re actually not half bad. Whoever’s doing most of the singing has a lovely voice, and the songs aren’t all just wailing away at instruments while she destroys her vocal chords. 

“Eeeeeee, I’m so excited,” Ruby says. By this point, they’re maybe two or three people from meeting the band. The girl is bouncing with energy like a stick of dynamite finally about to explode. 

Yang dryly says, “Really, I hadn’t noticed.” She dodges Ruby’s swipe and then says, “Remember what we talked about?”

“Don’t be weird.”

“And?” 

“Don’t touch them or take selfies unless they say it’s okay beforehand.”

“ _And?”_

“If they have instruments with them, don’t play them, Yang c’moooooooon! I won’t be weird, I’m like the coolest person ever—don’t bring up the jello incident!” Ruby rushes out, pointing a finger at her sister. 

Yang shuts her mouth, because she was _totally_ about to bring up the jello incident. Instead, she looks past her sister’s shoulder and points as security returns and ushers them to come his way. “Looks like we’re up.”

Crossing the threshold, the sisters eye the band as they’re in the middle of a little break. They all look kind of exhausted, which is to be expected since by this point, it’s almost 6. 

One of the band members—a boy with tan skin like hers and short blonde hair, wearing a polo with ripped sleeves to show off his arms—-slides a bottle of water down the table to his fellow musician, a darker skinned girl with long hair. Further down the table, a guy who certainly looks older than the rest of them has his arms crossed, prompting the second girl, the darkest skinned of them all, to put a hand on his shoulder. Whatever she says to him forces him to sigh, though he doesn’t look any happier about it. 

The first boy gives a thumbs up, and the sisters step forward. Ruby goes for him first, immediately opening her mouth to scream: “YOU’RE SUN WUKONG!!!!” It echoes in the mall. 

Rule 1, Don’t Be Weird, has already been broken, and it’s only been 2 seconds. 

Sun takes it in stride, and in fact, he laughs. “I am? Well nobody told _me,_ I thought I was Ilia!” Ilia, the girl next to him, snorts. The blonde boy pulls out a poster with one hand, casually twirling his pen with the other. “So kid, who am I making this out to?”

“My name’s Ruby, and this is my sister Yang. I love your music so much. And, and,” she reaches into the pocket of her hoodie two pull out two granola bars, “I got you these! Because you probably haven’t eaten in like forever.” 

Surprised, Sun takes them both, handing one over to Ilia before signing his poster. “Shi—er, shoot, kid. Thanks, that’s real nice of you.”

“Pffff, you can swear in front of me, I’m 16.”

“Oh thank fucking _god_ ,” Ilia says, and Sun sighs in relief next to her. “I thought you were like, 12.”

“She gets that a lot,” Yang pipes up, letting her sister smack her shoulder. It gets both musicians to laugh. 

“Yang, shut uuuuuuuuup!” The silver-eyed girl spins her backpack around and pulls out a pair of gold drumsticks and a plush chameleon. “Can you guys sign these?”

Ilia takes the chameleon, impressed. Its sequins shimmer as she slowly examines it. “You got a good eye, kid,” she says before turning it on its back to sign. 

Sun whistles in appreciation. “These are the nicest looking versions of my drumsticks I’ve seen all day. You must take real good care of ‘em.”

“Oh, I don’t play,” Ruby says. “But I’ve got something that represents each of you, and the sticks were the first thing of yours I ever bought.”

Sun sniffles before he quickly composes himself. “Shit, kid, I....can I hug you? Like, is that cool?”

Ruby beams. Yang steps to the side as Sun literally leaps over the table—“ _DUDE,”_ Ilia screeches—and wraps her baby sister in a hug, and it’s so goddamn sweet that Yang definitely snaps at least 10 photos while it happens. 

“Oh my god,” Ruby whispers. “This is my favorite hug ever.”

Still to the side, Yang’s eyes drift to the final two members of the band. The girl, whose banner reads ‘Blake Belladonna,’ giggles. “That may be the most excited to meet a fan I’ve seen Sun be all day.” Her gold eyes meet with Yang’s purple and the blonde goes slack for a moment because, holy shit, this girl is gorgeous. Yang would’ve listened to this band a long time ago if she knew one of them looked like _that_. 

“Hellooooooo?” A hand goes in front of her face, and Yang snaps out of it. “Are you okay?” Blake asks. 

Her face beet red, Yang scratches the back of her head. “Yep, I’m fine! Totally, totally fine, I’m cool, ice cold, even!” Pansexual Disaster Yang Xiao Long, ladies and gentlemen. 

“....Right. Like I was saying, thank you for coming to our meetup.” Blake smiles and Yang feels like it’s illegal to be that cute. 

“Oh, it was nothing. My sister loves your music, she listens to it all the time, and I mean that literally.” Yang chuckles. 

“There are two other members of the band, y’know.” That comment comes from the one next to Blake, whose banner reads ‘Adam Taurus.’ He scowls at Ruby continuing to chat with Ilia and Sun, and clears his throat loudly to get their attention. 

Blake rounds on him. “Adam!”

“If we wait for her, we’ll be here all night,” he mutters loud enough for both girls to hear, not even pretending to sound sorry. Yang turns toward him and he sneers at her, clearly daring her with his eyes to say something. Under his gaze, she tenses up; she’s been stared down by guys like this before, and each time she’s hit them so hard they would never do that again. Dad has always taught her to know when to come in swinging, and when to wait for them to expose themselves. And so Yang looks away, releasing the tension in her body. Just in time, too, because Ruby comes towards her, smiling apologetically and stuffing her newly signed items into her backpack. 

“Sorry! Sorry! Here,” she hands two more granola bars to each of them. “For being here all day.”

“Mmm, S’mores,” Blake grabs the bar and opens it up immediately. “My favorite.”

Adam blandly reads his aloud and groans. “Oatmeal raisin.” 

“It was all they had left,” Ruby weakly defends. For the second time that day, she reaches into her bag and pulls out two items for the musicians to sign. To Blake, she hands a book, and to Adam, a tan mask with red, horn-like symbols. 

“I made the mask in shop class,” Ruby explains as he examines it. “And I remember reading somewhere that you really liked this series.”

Blake responds first, breaking out her pen to sign the inside of _The Fifth Season_. “Will you read now that it's got an official Blake Belladonna autograph?” she teases.

Ruby takes it at face value and says, “Of course! Oh, wait, can I get a selfie with you all? Please? Yang, take our picture!” The book goes into her bag as she ushers her sister over. 

Sun and Ilia agree easily enough, the former coming to Blake’s right and wrapping an arm around her side. To her left, Ilia rests a hand on her shoulder. Yang sidles up next to Ruby easily enough. She takes out her phone and angles it high enough to capture all of them and their smiling faces. “Say ‘Rubyyyyyy!’” She snaps several photos as they repeat the phrase. 

(If any of the pictures just happen to not feature Adam, then so be it. Her arms aren’t that long, after all.)

There’s a few more selfies taken with the other three band members, first Ruby with each of them, and then the same process with Yang. It’s a good time, even if it means Sun or Ilia have to none too subtly tell Adam to _just chill man, this won’t take long._

Blake separates from Yang first, smiling. “Thank you again for coming. You’re a good sister.” They both smile at each other, and Yang feels that this is shaping up to be a pretty good day. 

**_CRACK!_ **

Five heads turn towards the source of the sudden sound. In his hands, Adam holds Ruby’s mask, now nearly cracked in half. Ruby gasps in horror, and Yang is pretty sure she hears swears from Sun and Ilia. 

“Sorry,” he simply says, looking anything but. To make things worse, he casually slides it off the table and onto the floor. 

Enraged, Yang walks over to him. “What the fuck is your problem?” She has half a mind to grab the table separating them and slam it over his face. 

Ruby rushes over, grabbing her sister’s hand, sniffling. “Yang. _Yang_ c'mon, let’s just go, please.”

Adam smirks. “I would listen to your sister, Yang. Clearly, she got the brains in the family.”

Yang punches him. Quickly and before anyone can comprehend, her fist goes to his face and blood comes rushing out of his nose. The blonde barely has a moment to register that she actually did that before she feels a pair of hands grab her shoulder and push her away, far away from a swearing and enraged Adam. 

It isn’t security who’s pushed her away, but rather Ilia. There’s panic on her face, as there is on Sun, who’s grabbed Ruby by the wrist and escorted her away. They both look at each other and sigh. “Are you alright?” Ilia asks softly. 

Sighing, Yang nods wordlessly. Her eyes go to Ruby, who looks like she’s about to cry. “Ruby?” Instead of saying anything, her sister walks over and tackles her in a tight hug. 

“I’m sorry,” Ilia apologizes. “We both are.”

“He just gets like that after a long day sometimes,” Sun defends. It’s weak, they both know it, and so do the sisters. Yang doesn’t say anything; how they feel about what just transpired is clear on their face. 

“I’m sorry, too,” Yang says, and both band members know she doesn’t mean the punch. Sun walks over and gives them both a hug, patting Ruby on the shoulder before leaving. 

Ilia lingers behind to leave a hand on Ruby’s shoulder, then she looks at Yang. “Should’ve hit him harder,” she says before walking away. 

It’s a quiet drive back home. 

\----------------  
  


Yang really doesn’t wanna do this. 

It’s the beginning of May and graduation is about two weeks away. By all means, she’s done the hard part; she’s done pretty well on her finals and her acceptance letter to Beacon has already come in. In comparison, asking a simple question should be easy. At least, in theory. 

_C’mon Xiao Long, you got this. You_ got _this._ Psyching herself up, Yang walks into the guest room, where Raven is on her laptop. She knocks twice to announce her presence. 

Raven looks up, clearly surprised. This is the first time one has ever actively looked for the other. “Yes?”

“Doing anything important?” Yang asks. When her birth mother shakes her head, she licks her lips in nervousness. “I was thinking that maybe it’s time for that drink?”

Raven nods. Closing her laptop, she reaches for her leather jacket, fishing out the car keys to toss them to her daughter. “You’re driving.”

**Raven.**

Raven really doesn’t wanna do this. 

This was her idea, yes, because there was some part of her that _supposed_ she should talk her daughter before she moved away, and no regrets, and all the other shit those dumb shows and movies go on about. But now here she was, giving Yang directions to their intended destination, and there was a feeling of dread in her stomach. 

The bar in question was called the Spider’s Web, a dingy little place Tai brought her, Qrow, and Summer to during their college days. Known for their wings and drinks, it became a semi-frequent weekend spot for the four of them and Ozpin, Qrow’s little tag along. It was here where a very drunk Tai first said he loved her, and sometimes Raven likes to think about that longer than she does most things involving Tai. 

Walking in, Raven’s red eyes scan the establishment. The two take a table across from a TV, within seconds a server comes by. She’s a cute little thing wearing a green and black button up and jeans. 

“My name’s Melanie,” the server greets, what’ll it—“

Raven cuts her off. “Leave the menus, go to the back and tell Malachite that Raven is here. Now.” Shocked, Melanie nods and does as she’s told. There’s an uncomfortable silence between mother and daughter as they wait. Yang certainly has questions, but she won’t be answering them quite yet. 

“Take this.” She reaches into her pocket and slides over a fake ID. “Your name is Barbara Dunkleman, you just turned 22, and you’re from Ontario.”

Yang’s eyes go wide. “I can’t—I could go to jail for this! _You_ could go to jail!”

“You won’t,” Raven promises. “Just memorize that as quickly as you can.” Her daughter sighs and does as instructed. After a few minutes, Raven turns around and hears the loud and sultry (and fake, since she’s a bartender) laugh of Malachite. The plump blonde has aged well since taking over her father’s bar full time. It had been surprising to learn this place was still standing, but maybe not by much, considering the alleged criminals and other unsavory types who frequent it and tipped surprisingly well. (She only stresses ‘alleged’ because neither her or Qrow were ever able to actually get a straight answer about that from the Malachite patriarch, rest his soul.)

“Well, well,” Malachite begins in that southern drawl, “if it isn’t Raven Branwen. Been awhile since you’ve chosen to get caught in my web.”

“Malachite,” Raven greets neutrally. “I’ve been a little busy. But my friend and I here would like a drink.” She notions to Yang, who waves nervously. 

Malachite chuckles. “Well, just lemme see that ID of yours and we’ll get those drinks started. What’s your name, sugar?”

Yang passes her ID over, injecting her voice with confidence. “Barbara, ma’am. Just turned 22.”

“Mmhm.” Malachite frowns before tossing the ID into Yang’s lap. “Sweetie, a word of advice. Your mother couldn’t forge a dick from shit, so don’t let her rope you into her nonsense.”

“You know she’s my daughter?” Raven asks. 

“‘Course I do, girl, she damn near looks like you. Not as hard, though, too many soft features. That must be because of her daddy. Mm, that man...”

Raven’s eyes narrow. “The drinks. _Please_.” Malachite laughs and walks off. 

“Why are we here, Raven?” Yang asks. 

This is perhaps the hard part. Because to open this door will lead down an endless hallway, and Raven knows how badly this could snowball. “The hard part is over. You’re an adult now, regardless of what some paper says. In a couple of months, you’ll be going out into the world away from Tai and Summer.”

“Yeah....” 

“And that means that I’ll do for you what your grandfather did for Qrow and I. On our 16th birthdays, he let us ask 3 questions about him, anything we wanted, and he would answer with full honesty. And now, I’ll do the same for you.”

Yang’s eyes go wide. “ _Anything?_ ”

“Anything,” Raven confirms. “If you need time to think it through, I understa—“

“Did you and Mom hook up in college?”

....what. “What?”

“It’s just, a few weeks ago while we were talking about colleges, Mom said it’s a place where she learned a lot about herself and that you and Dad helped—“

Raven pinches the bridge of her nose. Dear god, she is going to murder them all. Except Ruby. And the dog. Maybe. 

“And then she got all red and didn’t say anything else,” Yang finishes. “So...”

Sighing so, _so_ very deeply, Raven nods her head. “Yes. Summer and I ‘hooked up’ during college. Tai and I had gotten into a fight, Summer was trying to comfort me, and—“

Yang throws her hands up. “Yeahyeahyeah, I don’t want details, thanks.”

“I won’t count that one, because I would like for you to take this seriously, please.” Raven stresses the last part. Yang rolls her eyes and begins thinking. In that time, Melanie comes along and takes their order for food and Yang has begun to drink as well; her face sours at the first taste, but she soon becomes accustomed to it. 

The first question comes softly. “Did you love my dad?” Yang asks.

“Yes,” Raven answers. “Very much.” It’s as true as the sun being orange. Tai was the first, perhaps only man she ever loved, revealing a warm heart underneath that idiotic yet cute exterior. It was impossible to not love him. “But,” she already knows the next question to come, “I wasn’t in love with him. Not like he was with me. I don’t think I ever could’ve been.”

A second question comes immediately. “Did you love _me?”_

Raven’s at a loss for words. At Yang’s expectant gaze, she sighs and chooses her words carefully. “Yang, you are my flesh and blood. It would be impossible for me to not feel something for you.

It’s not the answer Yang was wanting to hear, but it's at that moment that their food arrives. A burger for Yang and a steak for Raven proves to relieve some of the tension as they eat in silence. Sometimes, Raven will look up at the TV to see if anything proves a fruitful distraction, but no such luck. 

Having finished her food, Yang wipes at her face with a napkin and takes another drink. She asks her third question. “You’re not staying after you’ve fully recovered, are you?”

Raven shakes her head since her mouth is full of steak. After swallowing, she answers in full. “I’m not. I don’t think I’ll go back to being a mercenary, but desk work is certainly not next on my list. I may travel the country for awhile.”

“Will you at least be in town for graduation?” The question catches the elder woman by surprise, long enough for Yang to pull out a ticket to the event and slide it towards Raven’s hand. “Dad managed to snag an extra one,” she admits. “In case you wanted to come.”

Staying silent, Raven folds the ticket and puts it in her wallet. She honestly doesn’t know if she’ll go—she had to be forced to go to her own high school reunion and skipped the college one like the plague—but this is _different,_ and they both know it. “I’ll consider it.” Smiling softly, she adds, “You can have one more question. Make it count.” 

Belly now full, Yang taps her fingers on the table, concentrating. “How did....” Her eyes drift to the floor, and then she gulps. 

“How did you lose your leg?” 

Raven sighs. She expected this to be one of questions asked, because why wouldn’t her daughter ask about the reason for their meeting? “My team and I were assigned to clear out compound used by a crime syndicate called Grimm. We had learned it was unoccupied and split up to each take a different floor of the building—me, Shay, Amber, and a Rookie forced we had hired on a couple months prior.” 

Memories of that girl, of her chipper laugh and love of explosives, come flooding through her mind and Raven drinks to force them back. “We had the charges set and primed. Blew it sky high, went back to base. It was a simple op.” 

Yang’s brow furrows in confusion. “But...”

“I’m not done,” Raven snaps. “A few days later, the Rookie and I are on patrol and suddenly our ride gets hit. I wake up with a leg busted to shit, she’s spent the entire day being tortured by one of the Grimm brothers himself.” He hadn’t even wanted anything. He said himself that he just was angry for what they did to his home and felt they needed to pay, to send a message. “He put a gun on the floor between us and said one of us had to die. Didn’t matter which, but it would be either one of us or both.” She takes another drink. “I grabbed it first.”

“And then?” Yang asks softly. 

“I did what I had to,” Raven answers. She had seen how beaten the Rookie was, the exhaustion and fear in her eyes. “And then after I did it, they took my leg, put me in a car and threw me at the front door of the hospital. Doctors had no clue what to make of a bloodied woman missing a leg.” Calling Shay and Amber once she regained consciousness was easy, and their superiors had decided to add a little extra to her paycheck before she was fired and they called Tai through a third party. 

Yang gets up from her seat, pacing back and forth. Her shoes squeak against the wood as she processes her mother’s story. After nearly colliding with a server passing by, she comes to a halt, shuddering. 

Raven already knows her daughter’s crisis. “There was no other choice, Yang. _None,”_ she cuts off her daughter’s rebuke. 

“You could’ve shot him,” Yang argues. No doubt she’s seen several action movies with this scenario in them. 

“I had one working leg, and she was so tired she could barely even crawl, let alone stand. We were in no position to do much of anything.”

“Did you even think of an alternative? Or did you just grab the gun and pull the trigger?”

“I made it back. What does it matter?” Raven crosses her arms in defiance.

“Wh-?! It matters a lot! You killed her, and you keep calling her Rookie! She trusted you for months, and you, you don’t even know her name! Did she mean anything to you, or was she just another girl for you to get rid of?” 

Raven clenches her jaw. “Your current attitude is making me consider a repeat of my actions.” She stands up slowly to meet her daughter’s gaze. “You may not like what I did, but understand this, Yang. What I did to her was merciful. If she had killed me, she wouldn’t have lasted much longer with them.” 

“It was _selfish,_ to save your own ass.” Yang jams a prosthetic finger in her chest. Raven grabs it before it can be withdrawn. 

“Stupid girl,” Raven hisses. “This isn’t some fantasy where you can afford to be soft and everything will be fine. This world will always be cruel, even when you think it’s on your side.” She thinks of Yang’s birth, and how she was unable to feel joy, even for a baby only a few hours old. “I’m proof of that, and so are you.”

Yang yanks her hand away. She laughs but it sounds bitter, and it annoys Raven to no end. “What’s so damn funny?” she demands. 

Crossing her arms, the blonde simply states, “You are. You think we’re both fucked up because of these,” she raises her prosthetic and points at her mother’s leg. “You want me to be as mad at the world and scared as you are.”

“I’m not—“

“You _are_. It’s why you left when Uncle Qrow came to get me at Hawke’s funeral, and why you left when Dad showed up after my accident. Yeah, they told me,” she adds at Raven’s confused face. “That’s the difference between us, mom. You lost your leg because you were afraid. I lost my arm because I was saving someone.”

Raven seethes as she takes in every word. Who the hell does this girl think she is, casting judgment on her? Raven never wanted—

Oh. _Oh._

Composing herself as best she can, wiping at tears she didn’t realize were falling down her face, Raven Branwen says four words to Yang Xiao Long Long that she knows will be devastating to hear. 

“I never wanted you.”

Yang’s passive look shifts into confusion. “What?”

“I never wanted a child or starting a family. And when I learned I was pregnant with you, I thought about getting rid of you. But your father, he convinced me to keep you to term.”

Yang recoils like she’s just been slapped, she’s constantly muttering ‘no’ over and over to herself. She backs away, and with each step, Raven moves forward. 

“The night you were born, I held you in my arms and felt nothing. I’ve watched you grow over this last year and have _felt. N_ _othing._ Because that’s all you are to me, Yang Xiao Long. 17 years of nothing that I had to run away from.”

They both look at each other, red eyed and ready. In this moment, nothing matters but then and the emotions laid out between them. And in that silence, Raven realizes that she may have gone too far. “Yang,“

The girl moves, arm already reeled back for a punch. If this is what it’s come to, Raven already knows what she’ll do. The punch comes her way...

But nothing happens. Because Yang’s fist goes into the ready and waiting palm of Qrow Branwen, which surprises them both. “Hey, Firecracker.” He gingerly puts her arm back to her side. “Go home, kid.”

Yang looks at Qrow, then Raven. Wiping her tears, she gives a tight nod and quick hug before walking past Raven. They briefly lock eyes as she walks past, and through her tears, Raven blurts out, “I’m sorry.”

That’s the wrong move, because Raven feels herself be spun around by her shoulder. She hears a snarl of rage, a cry from Qrow, and sees a fist enter her field of view. She braces for it--

But there’s no impact, because all Yang did was punch the air next to her. 

Shocked, Raven watches as Yang pulls her arm back. “Tch,” the blonde sniffles and tries to keep her voice composed. “You’re not worth it.” She leaves.

Once it’s clear that Yang won’t be coming back, Qrow sighs. “Great job there, Rave. Should submit this when you apply for Mother of the Year.”

Raven rounds on her brother. “How did you know we were here?”

“Who do you think? Malachite told me, because she knows—“ They both say her oft used quote, “Get a Branwen in here and they start drinking, someone’s gonna throw a punch.” He escorts her back to her table, sitting across from her like Yang had only moments ago. 

Qrow and Raven haven’t talked in at least four years. There had been a job in South America; like his twin, Qrow went into the private sector as a soldier of fortune. Things went _bad_ —like, Qrow very truly near death thanks to her using him as bait and ignoring his calls for backup. The fight between the twins had been one of the worst they ever had. He said she would die alone and unloved. She said he’d be nothing but a worthless drunk if she hadn’t helped him make something of herself. 

As it stands, Qrow was more right than her. The man looked much cleaner, more full of life than last she saw him, with a cleaner face and even cleaner jacket. It was honestly surprising to see her brother grow up to be this entirely different person. 

“It’s been awhile,” Raven says, and he chuckles drylessly. 

“Ohohohoho, no,” he says, “we’re not at small talk yet. The only thing I want to hear from you is what you did, and what you plan to fix it.”

Raven sighs, and she tells him everything, from when she and Yang first entered the bar to the standoff he intervened. By the time it’s over, he’s got his head in his hands and he gives the most exhausted sigh ever heard. “Raven,” he says slowly, “what the hell is wrong with you? Did Dad drop you when we were kids?

She bristles at the accusation. “I did what I thought was best to help her learn about me,” she grits out.

“You told her that you didn’t want her and that it’s why you bolted the first chance you got. How did you expect her to react?” 

“I...” Raven rubs her temples. None of this is going as she planned, or hoped. “I shouldn’t be telling you any of this. It doesn’t concern you.” 

“Maybe not, but it sure as shit concerns me.” At that moment, Taiyang Xiao Long shows up and sits next to Qrow, barely reigned in anger on his face. “Now, would you like to tell me what you said to my daughter?” 

Raven contains her sigh of annoyance. Of course Malachite would call _him,_ too. ”Tai,” she greets evenly. 

“Don’t. Now, I got a call about 20 minutes ago telling me that my daughter was drinking _underage_ with her mother, and since Summer is at work and Ruby’s at home, I know it isn’t her. The story. Now.” 

_Fuck._ “Very well. I took Yang here because I wanted to give her some closure and answer questions on my...departure,” she ignores her old beau’s scoff. “And in the process, her emotions got heated. In the process, I may have said some things that went too far.” 

Annoyed, Tai’s tongue hits the corner of his mouth. “You told her.” 

“I told her.”

“Goddammit, Raven...” He puts a hand through his hair. “What were you thinking?” 

“She deserved to know the truth.” 

“Did she?” Qrow questions. “Sounds to me like she just got under your skin and you went for the lowest blow.” 

Her silence speaks volumes. 

“Raven, she’s just a kid,” Tai pleads. “Her biggest worry right now should be if her graduation dress is going to fit, not if her deadbeat mother, _which you are,_ is going to emotionally devastate her two weeks before her big night.” 

“She’s been through worse,” Raven argues, “she can handle it.” 

“Yeah, but something tells me that unless she loses another limb and you have to pay for the prosthetic, you’d rather not deal with her after this.” 

Her face shifts to surprise. “Y-you knew about the arms?” 

“ _Of course I fucking knew, Raven,”_ Tai snarls. “You think I wouldn’t catch on to the fact that we got confirmation emails and the therapy bills got paid, but there were never any withdrawals from our bank accounts?” He deflates and speaks softer. “I just don’t get it, Rave. You’ve always tried to act like you’re hard and distant, but I’ve also seen you be so warm and so kind. You did it to me. Why can’t you do it to your own kid?” 

Because...that’s the question, isn’t it. It’s something Raven briefly thought leading up to and immediately after leaving Tai. Over the years it became something that haunts her dreams, even more so when she started living with this family. It’s an inescapable fact that’s mocked her with every picture, every laugh, every hug that she has seen Tai, Summer, Yang, and Ruby give to one another. 

She says it out loud. “I can’t be happy.”

“I can’t be happy,” she repeats to them both, “and I hate the idea of it. I hated you, Tai, for always making me happy and making Qrow and Summer and my family happy. And I _hated_ that me being pregnant made you happy, that everyone said having a child would make me happy. And then when I finally have Yang, it’s making everyone happy but _me,_ because even with my own child, held in my arms this universe wouldn’t let me be _fucking_ happy.” She looks at both men, and it occurs to her now that this is probably the first time Tai has seen her cry. “You always wanted me to be happy, and I can’t.”

She feels both of them sit next to her, and she weeps into Tai’s shirt. “I know,” he admits. Maybe he’s always known. “But now I just want you to be okay.” 

* * *

**Meeting #3: Graduation**

Tai does not tell Summer about the Bar Incident, for three reasons. The first is that he knows that there’s no way to do so without getting Yang in trouble, and that means Summer would straight up disembowel Raven and use her cadaver for the medical interns. (How people put their trust in this woman’s hands when she’s a closet sadist, Raven will never know.)

Reason number two is that said disembowelment of Raven would actually be counterintuitive to her therapy. Yes, Raven has to go to therapy now, twice a week. Salcedo is a nice enough woman, clearly experienced with both people like Raven and those who have served, which means she knows which walls to hit with a drill and which to hit with a hammer. Tai takes her to her appointments and sits out front, sometimes joined by Ruby. Never Yang. And while it may be a bit too early to call it, she would be lying if she said she didn’t feel lighter each time they pulled out of the parking lot. 

The third and final reason is that the day before therapy, per Tai’s rules, Yang and Raven tell Summer what happened at the Spider’s Web. Before her mother can throttle the woman who used to be her friend ~~and also fling~~ , Yang puts a pair of boxing gloves in her hands. “Settle it like Dad says you used to in Grandpa’s gym,” the young Xiao Long says. 

Within an hour, Summer has worked off several years of anger and frustration on Raven's body, and somehow Raven _still_ feels like she got let off easy. ("We square now?" Raven had asked. "I dunno about that,” Summer shrugged, “but for the moment, we’re rectangle." "Ugh....")

Not long after their fight, Tai and Yang square off again. Yang wins, relishing in the victory against her old man, and he proudly declares that she is now “strongest girl in the whole wide universe,” and that her grandfather would be proud. 

\----------------

After two straight weeks of therapy and making a slow, but active effort to be a part of the family--sometimes helping make dinner, occasionally taking Zwei out for a walk, even helping Ruby learn to drive once or twice--Raven is surprised when graduation is here. It’s the late afternoon and Yang and Tai have already driven to the church; Summer and Ruby are almost ready and about to head out themselves. In fact, Raven is still sitting on her bed reading when Ruby knocks on the door. 

“We’re heading out,” the younger girl says. “Sure you don’t want to drive with us?” 

Raven nods. Since that night, she and Yang haven’t actually talked one-on-one; there was no apology, no moment where they were near each other without someone else as a buffer. She truly wasn’t sure if the invitation given to her was actually still valid. “I’m sure,” she says to Ruby. “Have a good time.” 

Disappointed, Ruby nods, but not before adding, “She’s noticed. She hasn’t said it, but she has. And I think she wants you there, even if she won’t admit it.” With that, she leaves. 

Hearing the sound of Summer’s car pulling out of the driveway, Raven goes for her wallet and pulls out the ticket. To think that it had been offered to her just moments before one of the worst nights of either of their lives. Does she even deserve to be there, at a life defining moment such as this?

She didn’t deserve it back then. But she certainly does now. 

Raven doesn’t dress up much, just a decent button up and jeans over her black jacket. Thankfully, her ticket is indeed still valid, and she’s let inside the amphitheatre. She doesn’t try to find Tai or Summer; she’s content to just lurk in the very back where there are more empty seats. Dawdling apparently did her some good, because she managed to skip both the speech and the two songs before they hand out the diplomas. (According to the program, Yang wasn’t involved in either, so she doesn’t feel too bad.) 

She isn’t so rude as to not clap for the other kids, but when they finally call Yang’s name, she claps as hard as she can. To her right, she can hear the family scream their lungs out with effusive praise. (“THAT’S MY SISTER!!!” “SUNNY LITTLE DRAGOOOOOON!” “WE’RE SO PROUD OF YOU, SWEETIE!!” “FIRECRACKERRRRRRRR!!!!”) 

When it’s all over and everyone is gathered in the massive foyer, Raven makes herself scarce, keeping an eye out for Yang. She nearly runs into Qrow and his guest, taking notice of how close they are to one another-- _Things really_ have _changed,_ she thinks of that--but puts on her sunglasses and keeps out of sight at the last moment. It’s only when Tai is pulled away by a thankful student and Summer has to go to the bathroom does she make herself known to Ruby. The girl doesn’t say anything, she simply grins and jerks a thumb where Yang is tightly hugging two of her friends. 

Getting closer, Raven hears one of them say, “And we’re going to have to hang out all the time between classes! At lunch, at the gym, on Friday nights--” 

Yang laughs. “Slow down, Nora. We’ve gotta find some time to study, too.” 

“I gueeeeeeeeeeeess.” Raven clears her throat, getting the attention of all three teens. She doesn’t know the girl with the orange hair and wide eyes or her friend with the pink streak in his dark hair, but all that matters is Yang, who looks at her like she’s a statue come to life. That may be the first time it’s happened.

“You came,” her daughter says. 

Raven nods, a ghost of a smile on her lips. “I came.” Adding humor to her voice, she teases, “Who are your friends?” 

“Oh, right! Nora, Ren, this is...um....” 

“Raven. I’m a friend of her parents.” She shakes both their hands. “Congratulations to all of you. So sorry to interrupt, but can I borrow Yang for just a moment?” 

They both agree and leave, but not before giving Yang one last hug. Raven jerks her head and leads them away from the other graduates and their families, speaking normally over the chatter. “Congratulations. Again.” 

“Thanks,” Yang’s cheeks redden. “I didn’t think you’d come, after.....” 

“Me neither,” Raven admits. “But, a long time ago, someone told me to step up. And this is me, stepping up.” She exhales. “That night at the bar. I said some hurtful things to you. Things I shouldn’t have said to anyone, let alone my own child. I’m sorry.” 

Yang exhales, taking her graduation cap off. She goes to speak, but Raven raises a hand to cut her off. “I don’t...know how to be happy. I don’t think I ever really have been, not like you all. But looking at you on that stage, and looking at you right now? I feel proud of you.”

“Oh,” Yang dumbly says. “Um, thanks, m--Raven.” They both look out past the endless rows of parked cars and at the sunset. They’re both silent for a few minutes before Raven speaks again.

“Taylor.”

Confused, Yang looks at her expectantly. “Mm?” 

“Her name was Taylor.” 

Realizing what’s being said, Yang hums and grabs her mother’s hand with her prosthetic. 

Raven squeezes her daughter’s hand. “You probably would’ve liked her.”

\----------------

The summer goes by easily enough. Yang spends most of it working, hoping to save enough money to where she won’t have to worry about much in the way of finances. When she isn’t doing that, she’s with Ruby or her friends, working out, or dancing, like she do. Her 18th birthday party isn’t much of a party at all; just the family watching bad movies from her childhood and indulging in her bad food habits. She gets a car, a nice yellow Toyota with ‘YNGXLNG’ on the license plate.

Raven doesn’t attend this shindig, not because she doesn’t want to, but because she has unfinished business that takes up most of her summer. Her therapist advised that she make amends with Shay and Amber; all Amber really asked of her was that her plants be watered and her cats taken care of while she goes on a month-and-a-half long cruise with her new girlfriend. Shay is more fickle, first asking her to be his wingman at a bar (no) and then pretending to be his girlfriend for a family reunion (also no). In the end, she helps him groom himself up to be less...Shay. They both get her out of Patch and into Mistral, and Salcedo happily accepts video conferencing in lieu of face-to-face sessions. She emails Yang every couple of days, and it’s something she certainly doesn’t hate.

Missing Yang’s birthday isn’t ideal, but Raven also knows that she can’t make amends with her daughter quite yet. That’s why she stays in Mistral a little longer than she said she would to track down and talk to Taylor’s family. To tell them the truth and let them judge her as they saw fit. It’s a _rough_ day emotionally, but one slightly alleviated by getting an email later from Taylor’s parents thanking her for visiting and telling her how it happened. It doesn’t bring their daughter back, but it does give them closure that her former employer never provided.

Now, it’s August, the night before the family makes the drive to Beacon to help Yang move into her dorm. Yang and Raven are sitting on the back porch, Zwei in Yang’s lap and the both of them drinking--soda, in Yang’s case. 

“Tomorrow’s the big day,” Raven says, letting a firefly perch on her finger. “How do you feel?” 

“Nervous,” Yang admits. “Is that normal?” 

“Very. You should’ve seen Qrow when we were all packed and about to drive to Beacon, he was wetting himself and constantly freaking out about forgetting something.” Yang snickers, and she continues, “We drive 19 hours across the country and spend at least two hours moving his stuff into both our dorms, because no way were we going to be living together for one more year. And do you know what he says when we’re all done?” She makes her voice raspy: “I think I forgot my wallet.” 

The blonde howls with laughter, startling Zwei off her lap, and it’s nice. Reaching over, Raven says, “Hand me your phone.” 

“Okay...?” Confused, she does as asked, unlocking it along the way. After her mother is done doing whatever she did, it’s back in her hands. “What did you do?” 

“I gave you my phone number,” Raven looks away. “Now that we won’t be near each other all the time, I thought you should have it. In case you ever need money.” She feels stupid just saying it. “Or want to talk.” 

“I am...” Yang’s face lights up. “Going to send you _so_ many memes!” 

“I don’t know what a meme is, but if I get more than five, I’m blocking you.” The dryness cracks Yang up, and Raven smiles at the sight. They both look at each other. 

“Do we...” Yang makes a face. “Do we hug now?” 

“No hugs,” Raven refuses, but not harshly. “Maybe not quite yet.” Instead she offers her hand. Yang gives hers, and they shake on it. 

* * *

Moving into a dorm, Yang finds, is easier than she expected. But then again, it’s not like she did much work, having convinced her parents, Ruby, and Qrow to set up her room. She has no clue how she got lucky to get her own dorm, but she certainly won’t look a gift horse in the mouth. Walking back with them to the parking lot, she gives each of them a tight hug and a promise to come home whenever she can. As the two cars drive off, she waves as they pass her by. 

And then in the distance, she spots what she _thinks_ is a woman in a black jacket and sunglasses leaning on the hood of her car. She waves and shouts, “HEYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY!!!” at the top of her lungs. Whoever it is doesn’t say anything, they just get in their car and drive off. 

Come two minutes later, Yang receives a text from an unknown number. 

_Hey._

And she smiles. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright so last chapter, I said to expect the story of Yang and Raven soon, and I didn't know at the time that would equate to right freaking now. Funny how that works out, innit?
> 
> Doing this one was complicated, since I couldn't just rely on magic relics and immortal demon gods to carry the Raven/Yang dynamic. And then it just sort of came to me that if Ruby and Yang have two parents who love them and let them get away with shit like pulling a crazy "we are your secret sons" prank with two classmates, maybe Raven needs to be unhappy, someone who can't compute unconditional love. There's still some stuff I wanna do with her down the line for sure. 
> 
> To answer something I'm sure will be asked: yes, Blake was a child music star, and that is coming, but I wanna space that out since so far, I haven't done anything specifically for her yet. It's coming, tho. 
> 
> Stay safe, wash ya hands, you know how it be.


	11. Nora on Main

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nora uses Instagram to hit on her friends. That's it, that's the chapter.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This isn't nsfw, but there's some moments where it's implied, so if that ain't your thing, be aware.

**@sunflowryn** Felt cute. Might delete later. [photo ID: a black and white selfie of Ren with his hair free, the only color being his pink streak of hair and his eyes]

**norathora, JArcWrites, PyrrhaN1kos, and 13 others liked this**

**@norathora** god you’re so fucking sexy I hate it so much you beautiful god of a man

* * *

**@PyrrhaN1kos** The competition season may be over, but the rush is eternal. [photo ID: Pyrrha in a red-and-gold sports bra and shorts. First image is her sweaty and drinking water, the second of her holding a prop Javelin in her hands with a smile on her face. The final image is a side view of her mid-sprint.]

**JArcWrites, Snow_Weiss, and 37 others liked this**

**@norathora** the queen...the icon...the LEGEND, oil on canvas, artist god herself 🥵🥵🥵 bob ross is SHAKING

**@PyrrhaN1kos 😳😅** Noraaaaaaa

**@mayrigold** did you just diss bob ross????

* * *

**@BlakeBelldnna** I don’t know what it is about the bodega cats, but they really like me! 😊🐱 [photo ID: Blake in a faded black tank top and dark purple jeans, kneeling down and petting the four cats surrounding her. She’s got a smile on her face. In the second photo, two of the cats are in her lap while the others are reaching for her shoulders.]

**@norathora 💦💦💦💦** always knew you were a pussy magnet 

**@BangYangYang** FUCK, you beat me to it

* * *

 **@SunsGuns** heya Vacuo! Happy to be back home, and I brought a friend along to get his feet wet! [photo ID: Sun, shirtless, arm around Neptune, who’s wearing a light blue tank top. Second photo is of Sun, still shirtless, hitting a volleyball; the third is Sun banging on drums made from trash cans while eating a pizza.]

**@SeaTunes** oh a water pun! _That’s_ refreshing...

**@norathora** let me lick your abs. All of them. Spare ab, sir? Just one?

**@SunsGuns** ask me when we get back

* * *

 **@Snow_Weiss** shake it off, shake it off 💁🏼♀️[photo ID: A content smile on her face and eyes closed, Weiss now has short pixie hair. In the second photo, she smiles brightly, hands behind her back. For the third photo, she’s holding locks of her white hair in her hand, a cocky smile.] 

**@norathora** There has never been a woman like Weiss Miriam Schnee, born August 16. There will never be another business and architecture major who graduated from Atlas Academy with a 4.2 GA and gave the graduation speech AND sang during the ceremony. 

**@Snow_Weiss** 1\. Thank you. 2. That isn’t my middle name. 3. I did not tell you these things????

* * *

 **@JArcWrites** Big thanks to @sunflowryn and @velvetS for letting me be their model for their new cameras! [photo ID: Wearing a beanie and his glasses on, Jaune looks up from the notebook in his lap. In the second photo, he’s smiling with a cup of coffee in his hand. For the third photo, he does a silly wink.]

**@PyrrhaN1kos, @sunflowryn, @velvetS, and 17 others liked this**

**@PyrrhaN1kos 😍😍**

**@velvet** Thanks for agreeing! They came out amazing!

**@norathora** There he is, the only white man I ever let smash me on top 

**@JArcWrites** oh jeez

* * *

 **@BangYangYang** Call me ‘sweetheart,’ and I’ll tear you apart. Just call me ‘sir.’ [photo ID: Yang leaning against a wall in a white button up with the sleeves rolled up, showing off her prosthetic arm and part of the dragon tattoo on her flesh arm. Next photo is much closer, where she’s biting her lip as some of her hair frames the right side of her face. Her left eye is red.]

**@norathora** choke me. Pls. Just as tight as you can. Wear the shirt, use both your arms. Tell me I’m nothing 

**@BangYangYang** you know my parents can see this, right 

* * *

**@BreeRightHare** My name is Harriet Bree, and I am the Fastest Woman Alive. #TheFlash #running [photo ID: Standing in front of a mirror, Harriet turns to the side, showing off her legs and new shorts. 

**@norathora** 👀👀👀 how fast can you get to my place 

**@BreeRightHare 😉**

* * *

**@RubyRoses** I’m a SOLDIER boy. Can’t wait to play the remake! #FF7 #cloudstrife #cosplay #FF7Remake [photo IDs: Her hair mussed up, Ruby is wearing a sleeveless turtleneck and baggy jeans. In the second image, she’s holding a wide sword in her hands, silver eyes gleaming in amusement. For the final photo, she takes a battle stance.]

**@norathora** thank you for your service 😫 thrust that sword into me 

**@taiyang** Nora...

**@norathora** sorry, Mr. T!

* * *

 **@mayrigold** Fuck off, Rowling. I am woman. #translivesmatter #transwomenarewomen [image IDs: Wearing a shirt with the trans flag colors, May has her hands on her hips. The second image shows her again, this time with trans pride pins on her jacket. Finally, image three shows her flipping off a poster of one of the Harry Potter movies.]

**Thyme4Fiona, JoGreen, mAwwwmin, & 26 others liked this**

**@Thyme4Fiona** trans rights, bitch!!

**@mAwwwmin** trans rights, bitch. 

**@norathora** Fuck yeah you are, you ethereal beauty, TRANS RIGHTS, BITCH 

* * *

**@PyrrhaN1kos** #sponsored Thanks to Nike for sending compression arm sleeves for me and @SirXiaoLong. We really like them! [image IDs: Wearing tank tops and shorts, Pyrrha and Yang stand side by side as they curl their right and left arms, respectively. Yang has a cocky grin, and Pyrrha has a proud smile. The second image sees Pyrrha wearing both sleeves and flexing her arms, looking like a Greek statue. In the last image, Yang flexes her arm again, but this time her eyes go wide as a little tear forms while she poses.]

**JArcWrites, Snow_Weiss, BlakeBelldnna, ChurchLeo & 110 others like this **

**@JArcWrites** oh jesus, oh my god. 😫🥵

**@Snow_Weiss** *whispers softly* fuck... fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck 😳🥺

**@norathora** the words that I wish to say will probably get me banned, so I will use this as a substitute: [LOUD GAY SCREECHING]

* * *

 **@norathora** eeeeeeeee I won my first Emmy tonight!! I got to achieve a dream I’ve wanted since middle school. I’m so grateful to everyone who’s supported me over the years, and I couldn’t have done anything without my friends, family, or this handsome guy @sunflowryn. Now I just wish I didn’t cry so much [image IDs: Onstage with David Tennant, a tearful Nora smiles and holds her Emmy in her hands. She’s wearing a pink, off the shoulder dress with a hammer pin in the center, a slit that shows off her legs, and dark flats. In the second photo, she smiles and has a dignified pose as Ren poses next to her, arms out and displaying her like she’s a trophy. His suit is dark green with violet gloves.In the third photo, he lifts her into the air with a smile on his face. For the fourth and final photo, he dips his fiancee down and kisses her as she barely holds onto her new award.]

**sunflowryn, PyrrhaN1kos, JArcWrites, & 24 others like this **

**@SirXiaoLong** okay congrats i knew you’d get it but daaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaamn girl, how it make your butt look tho 

**@Snow_Weiss** oh jesus oh god oh fuck i’m too queer for this. I mean yes, obviously well done, but dear lord you’re gorgeous

**@PyrrhaN1kos** you may as well have shot me in the heart because GOD! can’t believe my best friend invented acting 

**@JArcWrites** amazing. Spectacular. The most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen in my life. Should’ve taken home all of them 

**@norathora** omg you guys i’m blushing so hard right now

**@BlakeBelldnna** now you know how it feels

**@sunflowryn** nobody bother us for the next two days, or I’ll end your life 

**@norathora** cuz we gon do a lotta fuckinnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn😏😏

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Look, I'll be real with you, last chapter was kinda heavy, so I needed something to counterbalance all that. Nora's a lotta fun to write because she's well, Nora, and I think she's someone who can just be whatever is needed. 
> 
> There's not a specific timeline to any of these, but the last one takes place in the future (obviously), and every other one of these is set in the relative present/when everyone is in school at Beacon. 
> 
> Stay safe! Donate to various charities and organizations if you can, wash your hands!


	12. Axes and Phone Calls

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Weiss is having not the best day, not helped by a sort of friend and phone calls from her dad. She needs to let off some steam.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you haven't already, you should probably read chapter 8--Weiss' Workout Plan--to get what's going on here, specifically the end.

With a loud groan, Weiss plops her butt on the bench and goes about opening her locker. Her hair clings to her face and she feels like she needs two showers--no, _three_ \--to soothe some of the bruises her body had taken. 

“Daaaaaaamn, Princess. You look like shit.” 

Weiss sighs, because of course that’s how this afternoon goes. “Hello, Vernal.” 

Vernal was...well, Weiss wasn’t sure what to call her. The girl had spotted her checking out Pyrrha’s butt weeks ago, and in the time between using up that three-day pass and signing up for a membership, the two had crossed paths multiple times. Given the way she carried herself, Vernal had to have been a handful of years older than Weiss.

Despite never actually calling Weiss by her name, she knew who Weiss was, because who didn’t, meaning she often switched between teasing and flat out insulting the Schnee family. (That wasn’t anything particularly new, if Weiss was being honest.) Sometimes they worked out together, with Vernal imparting snarky wisdom and offering many a jape when the heiress was about to tire out. Other times, Vernal would give thinly veiled comments that were lewd and would gave Yang or Nora a run for their money, since it didn't take long for her to realize that Weiss wasn't exactly playing for a single team. 

Normally, Weiss would feel neutral about Vernal’s presence, but today, she’d rather not. She hopes those two words convey the message of “get away from me,” but no dice. 

Instead, Vernal sits next to Weiss, an amused smirk on her lips. “The hell happened to you? You look like crap.” 

Weiss groans. Foolishly, the 19-year-old had accepted Yang’s request for help in training for an upcoming kickboxing tournament, forgetting that the blonde could punch her head clean off if she so desired. Though Weiss had plenty of padded gear on, that didn’t change the fact that she got her ass thoroughly wiped. And what’s worse is that Yang didn’t even realize what she was doing until they had finished and Weiss threw off the protective helmet covering her head and now felt like it had dents in it. 

  
  


_“Sorry,” Yang says sheepishly while rubbing the back of her head. “I guess I just got in the zone.”_

_Unamused and laying on the floor, Weiss stares at the ceiling. “You don’t say,” she dryly retorts._

_“Should we call it a day?”_

_“That would be preferable.”_

_“...Do you need help getting up?”_

_“What do_ you _think, Yang?”_

  
  


Vernal whistles. “Damn, blondie did a number on you.” One of her hands touches a bruise, and Weiss winces. “Guess it’s true what they say about rich people bruising easily.” 

Finally opening her locker, Weiss unzips her bag and grabs her towel and shampoo. Gingerly, she gets to her feet and heads to the showers. After a moment, she finds that Vernal follows her, her own towel and hair care products under her shoulder.

“You sure you're gonna be able to get those clothes off with how bad you look?” Vernal teases. “If you like, I--” 

“Do _not_ finish that sentence,” Weiss cuts off. She’s still embarrassed that she was caught ogling one of her friends, the gall of her to be that blatant. How mortifying it would be to undressed with the woman who caught her in the act.

Heading to an empty shower, Weiss goes about undressing, trying to ignore the eyes that she’s almost certain are on her. Quickly turning the knob from cold to warm, she lets the water pour over her, and she goes about cleaning herself. 

It’s a short shower--for her, meaning it’s like 15 or 20 minutes--and as she towels off and heads back to her locker to put on a clean pair of clothes, she’s surprised to see Vernal still there. Her “friend”--frenemy?--is wearing black jeans and a black shirt with the sleeves torn off. She must’ve been waiting for a while, because she looks dry, for lack of a better term. 

“Took you long enough. Get dressed,” Vernal says, though it sounds more like a request. Whatever face Weiss makes causes her to roll her eyes and say, “Just do it.” 

Annoyed, Weiss opened her locker again and went about putting on a clean shirt and pants. While putting her hair into a suitable ponytail, her phone beeps with a message, and Vernal picks it up. 

“Someone’s in trouble,” she says in a sing-song voice. When Weiss grabs the phone, she sees it’s several missed messages from Father. No doubt wanting to know how her grades are doing, as he does every other week. “Ain’t that sweet, daddy cares about his little girl.” 

Slamming the locker, Weiss gives her a cold stare before leaving. Bidding goodbye to reception, she heads right for her car, throwing her bag in the back seat. 

“Hey.” 

Vernal walks over to her in that way she does that looks both lazy and prepared. “Follow me,” she orders. 

“And why would I do that?” Weiss snaps. 

“Fine, don’t,” Vernal shrugs. “But you’re all wound up right now, and I know exactly what you need.” 

Her face beet red, Weiss’ eyes go wide. “How dare--! I’m not just going to ‘hook up’ with you like that!” 

Vernal barks out a laugh. “Slow down, Moneybags! I don’t normally go for the prim and proper types, buuuuuuuuut...” she eyes Weiss up and down with a smirk. “But seriously, I’m hungry, and I don’t wanna go home yet. So, you in?” 

Grumbling, the white-haired girl folds into her car and slams the door shut. Vernal takes that as a yes and grins. “Meet me at Axton’s!” 

Weiss waited until Vernal made it to her own vehicle before starting her car and leaving. She knew the place, more by name than actually visiting. Pyrrha and Nora supposedly frequented it a good amount, and upon looking it up, Weiss understood why: it was an axe throwing bar. Of course that would appeal to an athlete and a...Nora. 

During her drive, she received another text from Father, followed by a phone call (that she promptly ignored), and then a text from Whitley of all people none-too-subtly implying that she should answer the next time Father called. Which, yeah, not happening. Upon arriving and parking, it wasn’t hard to find Vernal. Her senior had already gotten them a table right in front of a group of men enthusiastically throwing the projectiles at the targets. 

“Almost thought you wouldn’t show,” Vernal says as Weiss sits down. Her hand holds a beer that she can’t have had terribly long. 

Ignoring the jab, Weiss asks, “Why are we here?” 

“Like I said, you’re all wound up. I dunno what those other Atlas girls do to blow off steam besides cocaine--” 

“I did _not_ \--”

“But us normal folks, we do shit like this.” She takes a swig before continuing. “You ever play darts?” 

“No,” Weiss admits. 

“Cornhole.” Weiss shakes her head. “Frisbee?” 

It may be easier to just say what Weiss _didn’t_ do as a kid. “Outdoor sports were not my thing growing up. But, I did do fencing!” 

Vernal snorts. “Okay, sure, I can work with that. Axe throwing is kinda like fencing.” 

“Really?” 

“...Okay, no, I don’t think there’s any connection, _but_ we’re doing this anyway because I don’t want these dudes to think we can’t throw axes.” 

At that, Weiss snorts. At that moment, one of the axe throwers, a tall fellow with skin as tan as Vernal’s and hair as short as hers, roars in victory. He chest bumps his friends and takes a drink from someone’s bear. 

“Overcompensating much?” Weiss mutters. 

Vernal snickers. “Seriously. Guys like that are _always_ trying to hit a bullseye here because it’s the only time they can stay on target.” Both of them belt into full on laughter. 

The pair continue watching axes being thrown, eating food and having beer, or water in Weiss’ case. (If she thought of her mother when declining some of Vernal’s beer, she wouldn’t admit it.) 

“You ready to try it?” Vernal asks after they’ve both cleared their plates. Nervously, Weiss looks at everyone throwing axes. She really doesn’t want to make a fool of herself in front of these people, even if she’s likely never going to see them again. But then she locks eyes with Vernal, and her confidence grows. 

Weiss nods and says, “Let’s do it.” An excited Vernal leaves her seat and leads them both to an empty station. 

Taking one of the axes out of a pile, she twirls it between her fingers as she speaks. “I know you didn’t play darts, but axe throwing is a lot like that. All you have to do is focus on the target, reel your arm back, and...” She throws the axe, and it hits the bullseye, dead center. 

Eyes alight with excitement, Weiss fawns over her. “That’s amazing.” She goes over to grab one of the axes. “Teach me.” 

Vernal goes over to remove her axe from the target and deposits it before going behind Weiss. Her hands go to the younger girl’s hips. (If anyone asks, no, Weiss isn’t blushing.) “First, have one leg in front of the other. Make sure both your hands are gripping the handle. And _then,”_ Vernal’s arms wrap around Weiss’ body. 

“Oh my stars,” Weiss mutters. Her Ice Queen moniker has never felt more incorrect at this moment.

Someone a few stations down gives a wolf whistle, and Vernal quickly flips them off before saying, “Ignore them.” Returning to her task, she helps Weiss lift her arms up until they’re bent. “Now, I’m gonna back away, and on the count of three, I want you to throw it, okay?” 

Her breath is hot on Weiss’ ear, and all the poor girl can do is nod in confirmation. When she realizes that Vernal has stepped away, she focuses. It shouldn’t be hard, right?

“1.....2....3!” 

With all the power in her arms she has left over, Weiss throws the axe. It leaves her hands, spinning in the air.....

And then it slams against the wall before hitting the floor. Weiss’ reaction goes from awestruck to mortified in a flash, not helped by the raucous laughter of some of the men who were no doubt watching. 

Stunned, Vernal walks over and picks up the axe. She chuckles before saying, “Okay, not everyone gets it right on the first try. It’s fine, just ignore those dudes.” 

Weiss says nothing, she merely snatches the axe and throws it again. For the second time, it hits the wall and falls to the ground. Not even waiting, Weiss grabs one of the unused axes next to her and weighs it in her hands. She takes up the stance she did before, imagines the target in her head....

“Oh, come on!” She shouts after it has landed in the wall, but not even hit one of the rings. Vernal puts a hand on her shoulder, but she shrugs it off to go to one of the other unused stations and grab the axes there. (When one of the employees, a bald-headed man with ‘Shannon’ on his nametag comes to stop her, she gives him a glare so cold he turns right back around, whistling.)

Several failed throws later, Weiss gives up and returns to her seat, dropping her head on the wood table. Vernal elects not to follow, instead throwing in her place. Her groan of annoyance grows louder when she feels her phone vibrate in her pocket. Already knowing who it is, she presses it up to her ear. “Hello?” 

Jacques Schnee’s voice has a tone that Winter once described as ‘constantly smug,’ and it proves no different over the phone. _“Well, I’m glad you_ finally _decided to answer after the multiple calls and texts I sent you. Where have you been?”_

“Hello, Father. I--”

_“If you were unable to answer myself or your brother, then clearly you were studying, yes?”_

She sighs. “Not exactly. I went to the gym, and now I’m currently out with someone.” 

_“Forgive me, daughter, it sounded like you said you were_ not _studying, is that correct?”_

“...Yes, Father.” 

_“And that would mean that you do not appreciate what I’ve done for you and your education, am I to understand that?”_

She sits up straight and pinches the bridge of her nose. “No, it’s not that, I just--” 

_“It’s funny, really. Your mother was just telling me how disappointed she is that you weren’t able to find time to come home and visit us. I told her that your studies were important, but instead I’ll just tell her that you were too busy_ hanging out _at Beacon instead of making something for yourself.”_

Weiss swallows a lump in her throat as his tone becomes icy. _“The next time I call you, I better not need to do it more than once again. Never put me on voicemail, and_ never _make me have to get your brother to contact you in my stead. Am I clear?”_

She nods before saying, “Yes.” 

_“Yes,_ what? _”_

....”Yes, Father.” 

_“Have a good evening, Weiss. I expect an email of your grades by 9 AM sharp.”_

The call goes dead. Breathing, Weiss slams her phone down. (She’s not worried, it has a protective screen.) Dammit all, she forgot how he can get when he doesn’t get his way. And knowing him, he may just tell Mother about this to spite her. 

“You alright?” Vernal looks down at her with barely veiled concern. “Look like you saw a ghost.” 

Shaking her head, Weiss calms down. “I have to go.” 

“Wait, wha--?”

“This was a waste of time,” she says in a clipped tone. She reaches into her wallet and pulls out money for both their food, plus an extra tip for her earlier outburst. “I’ll see you around.” She moves to get out of her seat, but Vernal grabs her shoulders and stills her. 

“I took you here to get you to chill the fuck out, and you’re still not chill. So, you’re not going anywhere,” Vernal says in a no BS tone. “Not without hitting a bullseye.” 

Her annoyance rising, Weiss feels an insult on the tip of her tongue before Vernal walks over and puts an axe in her hand. She looks down at it, the steel reflecting a distorted version of her scarred face. 

“Fine.” She walks over to the station, spinning the axe in her hands. She takes a throwing stance again, looking at the bullseye and imprinting it in her mind. Then, she closes her eyes. 

Before, Vernal had told her to imagine the target in her mind. This time, she doesn’t imagine the bullseye in the center. Instead, she imagines her father’s face, talking to her in that smug tone she’s heard her whole life, making everything she ever asked for sound like a laborious burden. She imagines his face the day she said she wished to go to Beacon, to not “make some calls,” but to let her grades speak for themselves. 

She pulls her arms back and throws the axe. She keeps her eyes closed. 

And when she opens them again, she finds that the axe has hit the bullseye, dead center. 

She lets a smile grace her lips as the guys further down--she’d forgotten that they were watching her--cheer and whoop in her honor. As for Vernal, she feels her presence when there’s a hand that claps her on the back. 

“Knew you could do it,” Vernal grins. Together, they both leave, but not before giving some high fives to the guys they pass. 

“So?” Vernal asks. “What did you imagine when you threw it?” 

She figures there’s no sense in lying and answers, “My father’s face.” She tries to not blush when there’s a bark of laughter. 

“You’re something else, Schnee, ya know that?” They both walk in silence to Weiss’ car, letting the wind and the booming thunder be the only sound between them.

When they finally reach her car, Weiss reaches for the door, then hesitates. “I...had fun tonight. Thank you for inviting me.” She smiles. 

“Yeah, yeah, don’t make a whole thing of it, Princess.” 

“It’s _heiress,_ actually,” Weiss giggles. When Vernal laughs, she waits before asking the question that’s been on her mind for some time now. “Why did you decide to talk to me after that day we met?” 

Vernal snorts. “C’mon, you know why.” Weiss shakes her head, and she lets out a huff that sounds a mixture of annoyed and surprised. “Well, then I’ll make it clearer.” 

And then she leans down and presses her lips against Weiss’. Very surprised, Weiss is taken aback before she puts a hand against the back of Vernal’s neck. For her part, the older girl wraps both arms around her waist, pushing her against the car door. 

After what feels like forever, they finally break apart, and both of their faces are red. Vernal slips her hands out of Weiss’ back pockets--whenever that happened, Weiss can’t say--and clears her throat. “So I’ll....see you at the gym sometime?” 

Lost for words, Weiss simply nods. “Mmmmmmmmhm.” 

“Good. Good. Lemme just--” She dips down again and kisses Weiss, but only briefly this time. “Good night, Weiss.” She winks and walks towards her car. 

Touching her lips with her fingers, Weiss says, “Good night, Vernal.” And she gets in her car. 

Just as before, she waits for Vernal to peel off before starting her car. And just as she does, drops of rain start to fall on her windshield. Not long after, her car is drenched. 

Weiss groans again, hitting her head on the car horn, which blares loudly.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeahhhhhhh, so to set this up: in another RWBY story I do called "Ren and Nora's Big Adventure," the first chapter is about Weiss and briefly mentions that she and Vernal used to be a thing. (I also said that Vernal was a sophomore back then, but I've since changed it to be that Vernal is simply "older." Not by more than two or three years, tops.)
> 
> I knew I eventually wanted to come back to Weiss and Vernal; even though I wrote back in chapter one of Housemates that Ruby and Weiss are into each other, they can still be with other people, obvs. Plus, Weiss being a queer disaster is fun. 
> 
> No clue when the next of these is coming up, I've got like several chapters of several different characters in the works, but they'll be done when they're done! As always, stay safe.


	13. The Crossover (Part I)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ruby goes back to high school.

**The Xiao Long-Rose house. Years ago.**

A soon to be sophomore Ruby Rose groaned as she soon walked into the house, messily dropping her backpack onto the floor and kicking her shoes off. It’s loud enough to disturb her mother Summer, who was watching TV when her daughter walked in. 

“Hi, sweetie,” Summer greeted. 

“ _Gruhhhhhh,”_ Ruby said in a voice that fit more for a zombie movie rather than a 15-year-old girl. 

“How was me school?”

 _“Gruhhhhhhhhhhh.”_ That one may be more because of the pun rather than an actual answer. Walking over, Ruby sat down next to her mother and deposited her head in her lap. 

“That kinda day, huh?” Summer asked, groaning when her daughter predictably did. One of her hands went up to stroke her daughter’s hair. 

“It’s so harrrrrrd,” Ruby whined. “I feel so dumb being in a class with those genius juniors!”

“You’re not dumb, sweetie. Things just seem hard at first, but you just need time to figure it out.”

“But the other kids won’t help,” Ruby argued. “I heard some of them say I’m only taking advanced classes because dad begged the principal to put me in.”

Summer frowned. “Well, those _children_ are only doing so because they can’t handle a 15 year old being better than them at something.”

Ruby lifted her head from her mom’s map to look her in the eye, silver to silver. “You don’t get it, mom! No one wants to help me, and they just look at me like I’m a dumb kid, and, and,” Ruby’s eyes begin to water, “I know you and dad and Yang say I’m a prodigy and I’ll get to graduate early, but sometimes I just...I...”

Without saying a word, Summer pulled her daughter to her chest and kissed her head. “I’m sorry, little Rose,” she said. ”When your dad and I talked with you about taking some advanced classes, we thought you’d soar like you usually do.”

“It’s hard,” Ruby said, though her voice was muffled. 

Summer pondered her words for a moment before speaking again. “You know, an old friend of mine in college always said that spite was the best motivator. Someone says you can’t do something, and you do it with extra flair?” She kissed the tip of her fingers loudly. “Mwah! Perfection.”

Ruby looked up at her, wiping at her tears. “I do like the teacher...”

Summer smiled. “That’s the spirit! How about we get some ice cream, and we’ll take a crack at the homework.”

Ruby sniffled. “Chocolate chip Cookie Supreme?”

“Chocolate chip Cookie Supreme.”

* * *

**The Present. Junior year.**

Ruby can never say no to her dad, which is how she ended up taking a trip back to Patch one April weekday. He never asked this of her before now, which made it all the more surprising when he did text her last week asking to come by her old high school for help with something. Not Yang, just her. 

(“What’s it for?” She had texted. “Patience, kiddo. You’ll see,” he’d replied.)

Parking in a guest spot, because she was no longer a student and wouldn’t take a teacher’s space!, she quickly made her way up the stairs and entered Signal High. It hadn’t changed much, from the grey and yellow color scheme to the mascot of the Signal Fireflies being the first thing you saw when walking in. (The original Fireflies costume, put in a glass case, was always the last part of the tour for freshmen and new students. Ruby would know, her dad made her take the tour twice.)

Going up to the security desk, Ruby waved and said, “Hey, Matt!” The security guard, a man getting up there in age, left his post and walked over to wrap her in a big hug. 

“Ruby Rose!” Matt shouted. “It’s been too long, kid, how’ve you been!”

Thankfully, the hug was brief, and Ruby was able to answer. “Oh, y’know, enjoying life at Beacon with my friends and sister! A few more weeks, and it’ll be my last year there.” A hand of hers is up in the air for a high five, which Matt gives. Like Yang’s, it is _very_ hard and echoes in the empty foyer of the school. 

“That’s what I like to hear, kid. Tai know you’re coming?”

“Yessir! Said he wanted me to come by today for...some reason.”

Matt chortled. “If I know your dad, it’s probably because he wanted to tell everyone how proud he is of you.”

Ruby chuckled weakly. “Hooray...” The days following the announcement from her guidance counselor that she had the chance to graduate early midway through her junior year had seen a rather enthusiastic Taiyang, to say the least. Boy, _that_ had led to weeks of being called “Daddy’s Little Headstart.” 

Matt chuckled and said, “You know it’s only cuz he loves you and your sister. Now get going, can’t have you making me look like I don’t work hard.”

“But you don’t,” Ruby cheekily said as she left. “See ya, Matt!”

In walking down the hallway to her father’s class, Ruby’s silver eyes scanned everything in sight, from lockers to offices and bathrooms. Maybe it was just because she was now 20, but everything felt so smaller than it did when she first entered Signal. It suddenly occurred to her that this was actually the first time since her early graduation that she stepped foot in the school. (Did Ren ever come back and visit? Jaune? Nora? Yang?)

Briefly, her eyes locked with a wall of accolades from over the decades of Signal’s existence. Of course, she saw the placard for her sister: in addition to boxing, Yang had been the first girl to try out for the football team and led the Fireflies one of their best streaks in years. She’d been voted “Most Likely to Throw a Killer Party” by her graduating class, and had managed to get herself in nearly every school club photo. (It didn’t hurt when the lead photographer was Ren, of course.)

As for Ruby? Well, she’d received many a medal for track and field, along with awards for mechanical engineering competitions. Some of her artwork had made it into the city paper, the Patchwork Press. In looking at her past accomplishments, Ruby couldn’t help but feel a swell of pride. “Good times,” she whispered to herself before continuing her trek to her father’s class. Upon finding it, she didn’t knock; checking the clock, she saw he had about ten minutes before his class let out. She passed the time playing on her phone, and before she knew it, the loud ‘bong’ signified the end of another period. Some things hadn’t changed. 

  
After waiting for the high school kids to file out, she stepped inside the classroom, looking over it with a careful eye. Despite how carefree and silly he seemed, her father was rather really good at pulling double duty as both a philosophy and gym teacher. He’d been hired for philosophy first, funnily enough, only agreeing to be a gym teacher after the previous one retired. It kept him in shape, he said, even though it was very clear that despite some grey around his temples and wrinkles, he could still probably throw down with any student who would challenge him. 

Tai was in the middle of packing things up, the only other occupant being a student. Before Ruby could process that, her dad walked over and gave her a quick hug and kiss on the cheek. 

“Glad you could make it, Rosie,” he said. 

“Daaaaaaaad,” she whined. Even as a sort of adult, it was embarrassing. He didn’t pay her any mind, though, walking her over to the student. The girl had a bushy head of red hair and green eyes that reminded Ruby of Pyrrha. 

“Ruby,” Tai introduced, “this here is Melinda Whitman. Melinda, this is Ruby, my daughter I was telling you about.”

Ruby smiled warmly and stuck her hand out. “Hi.”

Melinda shook it with one of her own, covered by a fingerless glove. “Pleased to meet ya, Ms. Rose,” she said, her southern accent out in full force. “But if it’s all the same to you, ah’d like it if ya call me Skout.”

“Only if you call me Ruby.”

“Skout here’s pretty smart,” Tai explained. “Real good with biology. She had to write a paper and do an experiment, and it ended up impressing Esther a whole bunch.”

 ~~Melinda~~ Skout’s cheeks are beet red as she stammers, “Oh, it wasn’t anything special, really. Ah just did this experiment where you use gems to refract sunlight and increase the growth rate of plants. My brother Wini helped me with it forever ago.”

Ruby’s eyes go wide. “That’s really cool, Skout. It’s way better than anything I was doing at your age, and environmental science was one of my worst subjects.”

Again, Skout’s cheeks redden. Tai chuckled before speaking again. “Esther showed it to a friend of hers at the Vale Academy of Science, and they think she’s got potential.” His voice goes soft. “In fact, they were thinking of maybe scooping her up.”

And with that, Ruby realizes why her dad called her in for this. Though Signal is a good school—no, she’s not biased, shut up—the Vale Academy of Science is the real deal for those more scientifically minded. It’s where Rufus Weller attended when he was just Ruby’s age, and he had graduated after just two years. Anyone who went there was sure to succeed and go on to do great things. Heck, Ruby can recall with perfect clarity how she met someone from their robotics and engineering division when it came time to look at an arm for Yang not long before she left for Beacon. 

Her eyes go to look at Skout, whose gaze shifted to the floor with a pout. “How old is she?” She asked. 

“15,” Skout answered softly. “Turned over spring break.” 

“Jesus.”

Tai nodded before checking his watch and sighing. “Alright, I need to go and get ready for gym, are you—?”

“Yeah, yeah, I got this, dad. I’ll see you after.” 

There’s a quick kiss on her cheek before Tai is saying to Skout, “Don’t forget the quiz on Thursday!” and he has left. 

It is only after about a minute of silence has it occurred to Ruby that she...has no idea what the heck to say to this girl. Skout looking up at her with those big green eyes doesn’t help, Jesus are all freshmen so small? This girl is reminding her of how old she is—

Out of nowhere, Ruby has one of her hands smack her cheek. “FOCUS!” She said. Ignoring the small sting in her cheek, her eyes go to Skout. “Hey, it’s a nice day out! You wanna go outside?”

Eyes wide and very much disturbed, Skout is nodding her head very slowly. The smaller girl has reached for the straps of her backpack and _wow,_ that’s a big bag. More surprising is how she just is able to walk out of the classroom and down the hallway like it’s nothing. 

Sensing the weird look her way, all Skout could do was shrug and offer, “Ah’ve had practice,” as an explanation. And maybe it was one. 

Per Skout’s request, Ruby led the pair outside to the bleachers. Her dad had apparently decided it was a free day, because some kids were playing football, him included, while others running or walking the track. 

Pacing back and forth while Skout sat, Ruby cleared her throat. “Soooooooo, Skout—“

Skout doesn’t look up from her book. “Ah already know what you’re gonna say, Ruby. You’re gonna tell me how ah should go ahead and join VAS and how ah’m a bright girl who shouldn’t let her talents go to waste.”

Dang, this girl is smart. “You caught me.”

”Guidance counselor and the guest teacher from the school already said it. Told him ah’d think about it.”

”And what do you think?” Ruby pressed.

”Ah think that when they showed me and my family the school it was mighty impressive,” Skout answered, finally providing eye contact. “Cool tech, nice teachers. But, ah dunno. It don’t feel right.”

”What do you mean?”

”Well, I got to talk to some of the kids and they were all kinda rude? Like, they kept talking while they were working on their thing, which ah’ve done before. But they talked to me like I wasn’t even really there.”

Ruby scowled. Yeah, she knew that feeling all too well when she was starting out with her advanced classes.   
  
”They didn’t even seem liked they like each other! They were all just takin’ potshots and saying these rude things. Just eggheads all trying to prove they’re smarter than one another.”

Ruby conceded that point. She’d heard in the past that going to such a well known academy gave its students a complex, and how it was something of a ‘dog eat dog’ mentality there, even when it came to group projects.

Deciding to take a different tack, Ruby sat down next to Skout and asked, “Well, what do your parents think?”

“Psh, they didn’t pay it any mind. They were all, ‘Well it’s a healthy competitive spirit! You’re just worrying too much,’ and ‘Why Melinda, you gotta go! You’ve got too much potential to turn this offer down! It would look so good for your college application!’” She huffed and grumbled. 

“Psh. Yeah, that sounds about right,” the older woman winced. 

“And, _and,_ their fancy guest teacher made it sound like I would just be stuck here in Patch if I turned ‘em down. _Gruhhhhhhhhhhh, he's coming back tomorrow for an answer and I don’t know what to sayyyyyyy.”_

 _Deja vu,_ Ruby thought to herself with a soft smile. “Okay, so, imagine that I’m that snooty teacher.” She added a British accent to her voice. “Pardon me, Skout, but you simply _must_ attend my fancy school where we serve tea every hour, on the hour.”

Skout laughed. Somewhere in Vale City, a white-haired heiress has snapped a mechanical pencil in half, and she doesn’t know why. 

Much more seriously and in her normal voice, Ruby said, “Tell me what you like about Signal. Anything and everything.”

Skout perked up. “Well, ah like the teachers, s’pecially yer dad. Ah like mah friends, ‘cept for this jerk named Manny cuz he keeps making fun of me, but he’s nice sometimes? There’s the bus driver who picks us up every morning and is really nice even though it’s like 8 am. Ah like my literature class with Mr. Luna. Ah like the food even though it’s kinda not great and how the school has a creek behind it, cuz sometimes ah just go there looking for rocks or cool stuff with Wini. Ah like...” 

Skout’s eyes go to the football field, where Ruby can barely make out a sweaty dark skinned girl catching the ball and wow, she is fast. She’s dodging the students from the other team trying to put both hands on her and even manages to sidestep Tai with zero effort. Before long, she’s reached the goal and spiked the ball, roaring in victory. Her teammates all rush over to her and high five, and even Tai is giving her one, its impact so loud it echoes. It made birds fly away in panic. 

When Ruby has turned back to Skout, the girl’s cheeks are red. “Ah mean, uh, yeah the people are really cool ya know! That’s all!” Her voice has gotten _really_ high. Her voice back to normal, she said, “And ah’d be leaving Wini all alone, and ah can’t do that to him. It’s kinda hard for him to make friends sometimes.”

Ruby smiled. “Sounds like this place means a lot to you.”

The teen nodded. “My family had to move around a lot sometimes. We were kinda like nomads, and our pa had to homeschool me and Wini. Ain’t really been in a school before until here, and ah don’t wanna go nowhere else.”

“I get it. You just wanna feel like a normal kid.” When Skout nodded, she continued. “Y’know when I was your age, I took a lot of advanced and summer classes when I was your age and even a sophomore, just to get them out the way. It’s how I ended up graduating early when I was still a junior.”

Skout gave a low whistle. “Daaaaaaaang. That sounds hard, though.”

“It was. It could just be a lot sometimes. The older students weren’t really nice to me, they just saw me as some annoying kid.”

“Do you regret it?”

“Kinda, yeah,” Ruby admitted. “I never really told my parents, but I kinda forgot to be a kid sometimes.”

Skout frowned. “But,” Ruby threw up a finger, “that’s why I think you should stay here at Signal. Skout, you’re a good kid with a good heart. You have plenty of time before you need to worry about what looks good on a college application. Besides, Beacon’s science department is waaaaaaay better,” she threw in for good measure. 

The younger redhead smiled. “Think you could tell the teacher that when he shows up tomorrow?”

“Nah, I think you got that all on your own. Maaaaaaybe don’t tell them about your little crush, though.” They both look down at the girl from before, who has clearly been watching them for quite some time. Skout’s wave is much more enthusiastic than Ruby’s, and the girl in question waved back before returning to play. 

Skout is about to speak when an arm from _somewhere_ has looped around her neck and a boy has appeared next to her. He looks exactly like Skout, though his hair is much shorter, and he has a purple bandana around his neck. 

Disturbed at his sudden appearance, Ruby can only say, “Uhhhhhhhhh, Skout?”

The girl in question sighed and said, “Yeah, this is my brother Wini ah was telling you about. He likes just popping in and outta places. This is Ruby, y’know, Mr. T’s kid?”

Realization dawned on Wini’s face before he smiled and offered his hand to shake, which Ruby did. He began to sign; Ruby had gotten better over the years, and she understood what he was saying perfectly. “Nice to meet you.”

“You too! You’ve got a pretty cool sister.”

Good naturedly, he rolled his eyes. “Said no one ever. Well, unless you count—“

Skout punched his shoulder, cheeks red again. “Shut _up!_ ” She turned to Ruby and chuckled weakly. “Pardon Winifred here, I got all the charm in the family.” 

Ruby laughed. Watching them interact reminded her of how she and Yang used to be, and still act. “You gonna be alright?” She asked. 

“Yeah,” Skout nodded, “think ah already knew what to say, just didn’t really know how. Didn’t hurt having someone to listen, though.” 

Wini gave her a flat look. “No love for the actual twin brother, I see.”

“Oh, hush, Winifred Georden, ya know what I meant.” Addressing Ruby again, she gave her a quick hug. Bidding both of them farewell, Ruby walked down to bleachers over to her dad, who was sitting cross legged with his shirt off. 

“How’d it go?” Tai asked. 

“I think it went well,” Ruby said. “She’s a good kid. Best for her if she stays one.”

“That’s why I knew you’d get through to her. Talked to her once after class, and I just saw a lot of her in you.” 

“Awwwwww, you love me.”

“Well, you are my daughter,” he laughed. “Gonna head back?”

“Think so,” she confirmed as he rose to his feet. “I may grab a quick lunch with mom before she heads to work.”

“It was good seeing you, kiddo, I love ya.” 

“Love you too, dad,” she said as they hugged. And then she pushed him away. “Augh, you’re all sweaty!”

“Sweaty for my sweetie!”

“Grossssssssss, bye.”

“BYE ROSIE!” He shouted loud enough for everyone to hear. 

“ _Daaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaad,”_ she rolled her eyes and began walking up the hill that would take her back to the parking lot. Despite her dad’s antics, Ruby couldn’t help but smile. She hoped everything with Skout worked out okay. 

_clap clap!_

Turning her head, Ruby looked up to see Skout and Wini staring down at her through the fence. They both waved at her. “Take care, Ruby!”

Ruby waved back. “You too!” And then she continued walking back to her car. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You wanted more Ruby, you got more Ruby. 
> 
> I always knew I wanted to have her be a mentor figure to someone, and I always wanted to have small crossovers with other RT animated shows like Nomad of Nowhere, so I thought why not combine the two? There won’t be a lot of this, like maybe a small handful more, but it was fun to do. There’s another I have planned that I think y’all will really like.
> 
> Ruby’s a fun character to write just in the orbit of her friends, but i’ve had her be in other characters chapters largely because I felt like it was easier for me to write her in smaller doses. I think putting her center stage here helped me get a stronger handle on who she is. 
> 
> See ya next time!


	14. Coming Out

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yang comes out to her friends.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you aren’t aware, there’s a new story in this whole Housemates saga! 
> 
> It’s called Rise and Fall of the White Fang, and it’ll be a 3-parter about Blake becoming a teen rock star with her friends. The first part is out now. 
> 
> Also, it’s my friend Everhaunting’s birthday! She’s been a big help with getting all this straight and being an editor/soundboard, and I couldn’t make this as good as it is without her. 💙💙💙

**The imminent future. Junior-to-Senior year.**

They’re all just relaxing in the house when it happens. It’s early into June and nice out, so the windows are open and the sun is shining on them all. Jaune is playing video games with Nora and Ren as Pyrrha and Blake read in the kitchen. Ruby is sketching, curled on the couch with Weiss sitting next to her and lazily checking Twitter. 

As for Yang? Well, the blonde has walked in that moment, a grin on her face that, when Ruby has gotten the chance to look up and see her sister’s face, can only mean trouble. 

“Goooooooood afternoon, everyone!” Yang declared. When everyone has replied with their own greetings, she goes on. “I have an announcement!”

Weiss snorted. “What now, did they finally bring that muscle milk back in stock?”

“Yes they did,  _ but  _ that’s not what this is about. It’s about something much more serious.” That has caught everyone’s attention, and they all stop what they’re doing to look at her in full. “As you all know, it’s Pride Month.”

Weiss’ scarred eye is repeatedly twitching. “Do. Not.”

Next to her, Ruby’s hand has nearly bent her pencil in half. “As your sister, I beg of you,” the silver-eyed girl pleaded. 

Undeterred, the blonde put a hand to her chest. “Today, I would like to announce—-“

Nora and Ren spring to their feet and charge at Yang. “Oh no, you don’t!” Nora growled, trying to tackle the brawler. Instead, Yang is easily able to sidestep her and push her down the hallway, while Ren is just  _ gently  _ pinned by his chest against the wall by Yang’s prosthetic. 

“As I was saying,” Yang chuckled like she hadn’t just almost gotten bowled over. “I would like to come out... _ as punsexual.” _

The collective groan from the house’s other seven residents is so loud that two houses down, 83-year-old Maria Calavera thought a drone was flying above her as she sat outside on her porch. 

Jaune is the first to get up, putting on his shoes and grumbling. “Every year....” His shoulder connects with Yang’s as he and Pyrrha leave the house. 

Glaring at her sister, Ruby only has four words before going to her room. “You’re dead to me.”

“I cannot stand you,” Weiss’ glare is  _ frosty  _ as she is walking to her own room. 

“This is why we can’t have nice things,” Ren gently slid out from Yang’s grasp and simply walked outside to the backyard, barefoot. Nora is shaking her head and Yang and then joins her boyfriend. 

The last one left, Blake is just sighing as she and Yang cross paths. “You’re sleeping alone, I’ll be in the vent tonight.”

And just like that, Yang is all alone. “Knew that would get them to clear out,” she muttered. She walked over and grabbed the TV remote, switching over to Hulu and opening up her account. 

The blonde pansexual grinned as she booted up last night’s episode of  _ The Floor is Lava.  _ “Puns beat everything.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes, I really did all this for a dumb pun.


	15. You’re the Inspiration

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “What gives you strength?”
> 
> Ruby draws. Maria gives advice.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> https://youtu.be/wM-XhQeFzW4

**The present. Junior year. **

  
Ruby rocks back and forth in the chair, trying to will her brain to work. She scrunches her face up, focusing, and....nothing. Again. As it has been for the last 10 minutes.

She sighs. Then, seeing she’s being ignored, she sighs again, louder. And getting no response, she does it  _again_ —

Maria Calavera herself sighs. “What is it, kid? Can’t you see I’m reading?”

“But Ms. Calaveraaaaaaaa,” Ruby whines, “I need heeeeeeeeelp!”

“Typical millennials. You come here, eat my food—“

“I brought my own cookies, actually.”

“Drink my milk—“

“You offered!”

“And decide to just relax here in my backyard, and then you think I’ll help you just because I’m on my lunch and it’s taking too long for this book to get to the good stuff!”

Ruby waits for a moment before saying, “So will you help, or....?”

“What kind of question is that, of course I’ll help!” Maria puts a bookmark in her copy of  _Ghost of Trystima: A Ninjas of Love Story_ and gives Ruby her full attention. “Alright kid, lay it on me.”

Ruby adjusts her legs so she now sits cross legged in the chair. It’s comfy. “Well, there’s this art challenge online and one of the prompts was, ‘your inspiration.’ And each time I think of that, it’s like pbbbbbbbt,” she blows a raspberry. “Nothing.”

“Well, that’s your first problem, kid. You gotta think about what inspiration means to you. What inspires you to do what you do?”

Almost instantly, Ruby’s mind goes to the heroes of the stories she used to read a child. Of warriors with mighty scythes and rapiers who would defend the innocent from monsters of shadow and bone.

She tells Maria this, and the older woman whacks Ruby on the head (gently?) with her cane. “Not fiction, ya dingleberry, real life!”

“Well, you asked!” Ruby counters. “And anyways it’s true! My art’s inspired by TV and games and stuff I watch!”

“That’s not the same thing, that’s  influence ,” Maria corrects. “That stuff guided your art style and what you draw.” She sets her cane down and removes her glasses. “Okay, let’s go about jogging that brain of yours.”

“Okay...”

Maria‘s eyes—light blue—gleam with amusement. “It won’t be anything weird, I promise. In fact, it’s something I did when I was around your age and something of an artist myself. Whenever I was working on a piece, I would always think about what I wanted to achieve with it. Not just to get paid or get noticed, but what I wanted it to  mean  to people . ”

Ruby concentrates before answering. “I guess,” she starts, “the earliest memory I have is of a drawing I made of my mom and me daycare. I had showed it to her right as I got home, and she put it up on the fridge. I think it’s still up there.”

“So you’d say that you want your art to make others happy, like you did with your mom?”

Ruby nods, and Maria presses, “Why did you draw your mom that day?”

“Our teacher asked us to draw something that makes us happy. I spent the whole time trying to think of something, because I guess I had too much that made me happy,” Ruby chuckles, “and then I settled on my mom.”

“Why?”

“Because I love her,” Ruby says, resisting the urge to add “duh” at the end. “And when I think of her, I’m happy, so I wanted to make something to make her happy and—ohhhhhhhhhh that’s what inspiration is.”

Maria cackles. “And now she gets it.To be inspired is to draw strength from something. That day you drew your mom? You were also drawing strength from her. You’ve been doing it every time you pick up a pencil and make something.”

“So I should draw my mom?” Ruby asks.

“Depends. Does she still inspire you?”

“Of course, but. I dunno,” the girl frowns. 

Sensing her turmoil, Maria smiles. “It’s okay, kid, you’re getting there.” Much softer, she says, “Close your eyes. Think bigger. Recall those who have touched your life and are still around. Think about the people who love you. Focus on the thought of them. How they make you feel.”

Ruby closes her eyes. Her mind is overwhelmed with the people in her life who she has bonded with, who she has loved and laughed and lived with.

“Love is what gives us life, and life is beautiful,” Maria continues. “It is precious. It gives us our strength. So tell me, Ruby Rose: where do you find your strength?”

Her eyes still closed, Ruby answers slowly. “I think of my family.” Her sister Yang, and how warm she is. Her parents and their seemingly endless well of love. Qrow and Raven, and their capacity to grow and be happy.

“My friends.” Weiss, the heiress from a treacherous and broken family who has shown so much loyalty to people she has only known for a handful of years. Of Blake, the righteous girl who has pulled herself up from darkness.

Her mind goes to Jaune, the boy who endures and is always there for his friends. Nora, and her chaotic but controlled enthusiasm. Pyrrha’s selflessness. Ren’s control.

“People who put their faith in me.” Skout’s potential, Sun’s promise to be better. Maria’s guidance.

“I find strength and inspiration in everyone,” Ruby says, opening her eyes. “And in how good we make each other.”

Maria gives a crooked grin. “Then I think you know what to draw?”

Ruby grins right back and gets to her feet. “Yep. Thanks, Ms. C!” She gives a two-fingered salute before leaving.

Maria shakes her head and smiles. Ruby’s a good kid, and the world will be good for her one day. But until then.

The old woman reaches for her discarded book. “Now, back to the adventures of Lord Sakai....”

* * *

Two weeks later, Ruby is back in Maria’s backyard, startling the old woman as she waters her flowers.

“Sorry!” Ruby apologizes.

“Jesus! I need to put a bell on you,” Maria grouses. She reaches for her cane and swipes at Ruby’s leg.

“Ha!” Ruby dodges out the way—

And then rubs her head, because with quick reflexes, Maria’s already whacked her on the head with her cane. “That’s what you get,” the old woman grins. “Now, why are you here?”

Ruby pulls out her phone and opens Instagram, talking while finding her profile. “I finished it! I mean the prompt was supposed to be last week and I kinda had some other stuff to do, but anyways!” She thrusts her phone in Maria’s patient hands. “Behold.”

**RubyRoses** Them. #illustration #art [image desc: Split into four parts, the first drawing sees Jaune, Nora, Pyrrha and Ren outside. Pyrrha is doing a plank as Nora sits on her back, happily eating pancakes. Ren is laying on the ground sleeping while Jaune is strumming on his guitar. In the second, Sun is doing a shirtless handstand as Skout tracks him with a stopwatch. Nearby, Maria laughs at something Penny just said.

The third drawing is of Ruby, with her arm wrapped around Weiss, whose arms are wrapped around both her and Blake; both Blake and Yang heave their arms wrapped around each other. All are smiling.

In the final drawing, Ruby is laughing and getting her hair ruffled by a smiling Yang. To Yang’s left are Tai and Raven, both with content smiles on their faces. And on Ruby’s right, Summer and Qrow.]

** BangYangYang, Snow_Weiss,  BlakeBelldnna,  and 38 others liked this **

Maria hands the phone back to Ruby. “Nicely done, kid. Glad to see you got my good side.”

Ruby laughs. “Thanks for your help, again. And before you ask,” she reaches behind her back and pulls out a package of Chips Ahoy. Chocolate chip, naturally.

... “You’re alright, Rose.” Maria drops her hose and begins walking over to her deck. “Go get us some milk, would ya?”

Ruby nods and walks into the house as Maria settles into her chair. Yeah, the world’s going to be real good to that kid one day.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> He-heyyyyyyyy, here’s a story idea that popped into my head late last night! (Like really late, Jesus I should’ve gone to bed sooner)
> 
> Ruby is very much a typical shonen protagonist that you can’t not have her say that she believes in her friends, and I liked how Maria in the show guided her to use her eyes, so this felt like a good way to get that quote in. Like I said, I’m still trying to get a handle on how to write Ruby because I don’t wanna make her wise beyond her eyes, but also not like, a Disney Protagonist, if that makes any sense.
> 
> There’s a piece of artwork that inspired this chapter, and it’s this lovely piece by tumblr user cosmokyrin! https://cosmokyrin.tumblr.com/post/184332007502/my-tiny-wishful-thinking
> 
> As always, stay safe and healthy, folks.


	16. The Pyrrhsuit of Happiness

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Pyrrha goes home. Pyrrha remembers how she met JNR.

**The distant past. Years ago.**

_This...may have been a mistake._

_About 90 minutes ago, 17-year-old Pyrrha Nikos had just made the game winning shot, a three pointer that caused the crowd to jump out of their seats in shock and awe. For the third year in a row, the Argus Argonauts—Argusnauts, as they’d been dubbed, which always struck her as silly—have won the championship. She’s gonna be a star because of this, her coach promises, which is funny given that she’s been on the cover of ESPN Magazine three times. But as a way to close out her high school years before going to Beacon, yeah, it’s quite an accomplishment._

_No, the mistake comes when one of her teammates, a dark haired girl named Sam who’s bubbly but an_ aggressive _player, invites Pyrrha to her hotel room as everyone else decides to hang at the pool. She doesn’t really feel like swimming, so sure, she goes to Sam’s room. They watch TV for a bit, and then Sam is talking to her, blushing and stammering, and then Pyrrha finds a pair of lips on hers. From there, she and Sam...well, it turns out Sam was a power forward for a reason._

_The pair are later laying in bed, Pyrrha having thrown on the oversized shirt and shorts she’d recently been dismissed of. From her periphery, she can feel Sam’s gaze on her, a pale finger tracing circles on her clothed shoulder._

_“So...” Pyrrha starts, then stops. What the hell do you say after this? “That happened!” Bad Pyrrha. Jesus, why do you talk._

_Sam laughs. “Yeah, it did. Did you like it, or?” She leaves the question open, but when there’s no answer, she keeps talking. “I mean,_ I _liked it, but I mean. I wanna think you did too.” She winks._

 _Pyrrha clears her throat. “It was nice,” she admits. She twiddles her thumbs as she asks the question on the tip of her lips for the past 10 minutes. “What does_ this _mean?” She gestures between them. “Are we....?”_

_Sam snorts. “God, you’re cute. I mean, Shade’s like, nearly a whole day from Beacon, and I don’t wanna do the long distance thing. My sister did one, and it didn’t work out, so...”_

_“I get it,” Pyrrha states. There’s a twisting feeling in her gut at how casually Sam admits this, but she tries her best to ignore it._

_“Yeah. And like, we’re in this hotel, and we just won, and you’re_ you _. I didn’t wanna end this trip with any regrets, y’know?” She kisses Pyrrha on the side of her mouth, like and slides off the bed, throwing on her clothes. “I think I’m gonna head down to the pool and just sit down. You wanna come?”_

_“I think I’ll just go to bed,” Pyrrha declines. “Guess you took a lot of energy out of me.”_

_Again, Sam snorts and then leans in to kiss Pyrrha. Once she’s dressed, they both go their separate ways. True to her word, Pyrrha goes to her room and looks for her phone. She feels like her heart is about to explode within her chest, so she does the only sensible thing at the moment. She calls her mom._

“Hello! This is Kassandra Nikos, adventurer extraordinaire! I can’t come to the phone right now, but leave a message--”

_She hangs up. Damn. Hesitantly, she goes over to her dad’s profile and hits call. It’s not like he’ll answer._

“Hello. This is the phone for Dr. Leonard Church. I am presently unavailable, but--”

_Wow no way, Dad doesn’t answer his phone. What a twist!_

_Frustrated, Pyrrha gets in bed, wrapping herself in a blanket burrito. As she starts to drift off to sleep, that twisting feeling in her stomach comes back. And she shuts her eyes and begins muttering a single sentence repeatedly._

_“You’ll always be alone.”_

* * *

**The recent past. Freshman year, April.**

So here’s what they don’t tell you about having a drunk foursome with three of your closest, and when you think about it, probably _only_ real friends: the aftermath is kinda awkward. 

An 18-year-old Pyrrha realizes this as she quietly gets out of the tangled mess they all slept in—slipping out of Jaune’s grasp around her waist was easy, Nora around her foot, not so much. It’s a little past 5:30 and she feels like she shouldn’t be awake right now, but the habits of her morning training are forever burned into her body. Finding her clothes and getting dressed enough for the trek back is easy. Standing over their sleeping forms, she looks at them all with a twinge of longing. There’s such a content look on all their faces, and the way Jaune held her as they went to sleep felt like everything she’d wanted for months now. 

But there’s also something else inside her chest right now, something ugly that makes the choice to appear right now. _Oh, how cute they look,_ a voice inside her head says. _I bet they sleep like that every night without you._ She forces the voice to silence, for now. With her things gathered, she closes the door softly behind her, saying two words so quiet even a mouse wouldn’t hear them. 

“I’m sorry.”  
  


**Mid September.**

_Finishing her workout for the day, which is two hours because that’s what her now ex-trainer and father agreed upon before coming to Beacon, Pyrrha Nikos slides her bare arms through the straps of her backpack and leaves the gym. Even with her hood up, she keeps her head down low, lest anyone recognize who she is. As she goes about the process of untangling her headphones and slipping them into her ears, she thumbs through a song to pick, eventually settling on “Titanium” by David Guetta._

_The song plays as she makes her way home, where hopefully her dorm mate is not there. Cinder isn’t a slob, but there’s something about the way those golden eyes look at her that have Pyrrha on edge, like she’ll wake up and Cinder will be trying to plunge a knife into her chest. Anyways, Pyrrha is at the crosswalk, waiting for the sign to go and listening to Sia croon at the part where the song’s title hits, when she feels something graze her. She pauses the song and looks around, confused, before her eyes drift down and she gasps._

_There’s a blonde boy rubbing his helmeted head, face scrunched in pain. His bike is unharmed, though the front wheel keeps spinning before finally puttering out. He looks up at her, blue eyes meeting her green, and says: “Ow, what the hell?”_

_Instantly, she replies: “I’m sorry!”  
  
_

**April.**

Much to Pyrrha’s relief when she returns to her dorm, Cinder was not there, meaning she was free to freak the hell out as she pleased. Her mind replays everything from last night with such clarity that the athlete almost got lost in the recollection. She has to fight to escape a whine from the back of her throat, and she instead opens up her phone before realizing the people she would talk to about this are asleep at an apartment complex 10 minutes away. 

She groans again, because this is exactly what her dad said to avoid the day before she came to Beacon. “‘Focus on your studies and athletics, Pyrrha,’” she mocks in her father’s Southern drawl. “‘Everything else is irrelevant, young lady. You need to focus on being the best.’ Tch. Probably never gave that talk to Leo.”

Like in a TV show, a lightbulb of an idea forms in her head. _Leo!_ Quickly, she opens up her airlines and app and checks for any early morning flights. _There’s one in about two hours..._ She bites at her lip. Is she really about to leave town to avoid her emotions?

...

“Well, like Nora always says: YOLO,” Pyrrha mutters. Quickly, she packs enough clothes for four days, along with her sundries, has emails set to be sent to her coach later in the day. Driving to the airport isn’t an issue with barely any traffic, though at each light she stops at, she tries to imagine what message to send to the group chat she shares with her friends. (“Let’s call it JNPR!” Jaune had declared. “....Why?” she asked at the time, and she has still never received an answer.) In the end, she puts her phone on airplane mode, promising to send it before the flight. 

And speaking of the flight...she’s never been one to really play the “I’m a celebrity card,” despite what Yang and Nora sometimes joked about early on. So she doesn’t feel _that_ bad walking up to the front desk and talking to the attendant who would love to just sleep and casually throwing out that hey, soccer and basketball star Pyrrha Nikos needs a ticket to Argus, thanks. Nor does she feel bad when said attendant suddenly brightens at her appearance and not only gets her a ticket, but bumps her up from economy to first class. 

Before the flight takes off, she shoots a quick text to Leo letting her know she’s on her way—along with an apology for the early wake up on a Saturday, which he’s sure to be cranky about—and then one to the group chat, saying that she had to go to Argus for a few days to deal with a family thing. Once both are sent, she leans into the seat and tries to go to sleep. 

It doesn’t take. 

The entire flight is torture as Pyrrha tries and fails to force herself to sleep. It’s a good thing that she doesn’t have good service on her phone, because she’d be debating whether or not to check the group chat the entire time. Instead, she busies herself with a book she had downloaded days ago, and she’s about 3/4 through it when the plane touches down. 

Once she’s got her bag and is in full average bystander mode (read: baseball cap and sunglasses she borrowed from Yang once), she checks her phone. Leo had texted her during the flight, annoyed but otherwise agreeing to come pick her up. When she spots him in that blue denim jacket he’s had since college, he just gives a short nod and leads her to his car, a Jaguar nicknamed Puma. (According to him, it was an in-joke between some old friends at a call center he used to work at.) It’s crazy how much he looks like Dad, she realizes, with his dark hair and beard. He even has glasses and looks constantly annoyed like their father does. 

“So,” her brother starts after they’ve left the airport parking lot. “What happened?”

“I don’t know what you mean,” Pyrrha laughs nervously. 

“Well, I got a hunch that you didn’t decide to take a 7:30 flight just for the heck of it.” He asks softly, “Did something happen at school? Are you in trouble? You said there was something strange about that roommate of yours, Ash?”

“Cinder,” she corrects, “and no, it’s nothing like that. I just...I just needed to get away.”

Leo hums. He doesn’t fully believe her, she knows that because of how he adjusts his glasses in a way that clearly says they’ll talk about it later, but he lets it go. The rest of the drive is in silence, save for the radio. When she thinks they’re headed to his house, it turns out to be a detour so he can stop and grab some donuts. 

“Del says hi,” Leo hands the box off to her and turns on the car. “Said the Pyrrha Powders still sell pretty well.”

Pyrrha smiles softly. “Of course they do. After all—“

“Pyrrha Powders are the donuts of champions,” the siblings say, and they laugh.

Arriving at Leo’s home, Pyrrha puts the donuts on the table and digs in. He had told her that Allison had gone for a morning jog and he was going to try and get some sleep, so she plucks a glazed and a sprinkle before going into the living room and turning on the TV. There’s barely anything worth watching on, so she goes through her phone. 

Unsurprisingly, there are messages from the group chat; all three of them in their own ways offering their well wishes and a hope to see her in a few days. They must’ve told their other friends, because there’s messages from Weiss and Blake, along with positivity-themed memes from Ruby and Yang. ‘Let us know when you land! 🙂’ reads a message from Nora. 

Before she can answer, though, in comes Allison. The brunette has a fresh sheen of sweat across her face, and she sounds like she’s about to keel over, but she’s put together enough to grab a donut and take a seat next to Pyrrha. “Nice to see you, kid,” Allison greets before tearing into her donut. 

Pyrrha smiles. “You, too. Sorry to show up like this unannounced.”

“Honestly, it’s not like we were doing much of anything. Leo was cranky when you called, but that’s nothing new.” They sit in silence together before Alison dusts off her hands and makes way for the shower. 

Left alone again, Pyrrha finishes off her remaining breakfast and drapes herself across the couch, finally letting sleep overcome her. Maybe this is exactly what she needs for the rest of the weekend. 

**Mid September.**

_Lie Ren hears the door open and turns around, a greeting on his lips. But_ then _he takes in the sight of a girl in a sleeveless hoodie holding Jaune’s bike in one hand and the boy slung over her back. “Um....?” he says dumbly, because how does one respond to that visual._

_“Hi,” the girl says, propping the bike up against the wall. “I think these belong to you?” Her eyes scan the living room before settling on the couch, and she places the blonde down gently. Once she’s certain he won’t fall off, she pulls down her hood and lets a ponytail of red hair fall over her shoulder._

_“Hi. Um. Wait. Sorry. What happened?” Ren points to Jaune, who slowly sits up and rubs at his head._

_Before either can respond the door opens again, signifying Nora’s arrival. As she always does, she drops her backpack by the door. “You will not believe who I saw today,” the plump redhead says. “So I was at the gym, lifting, working on my fitness like Fergie said—“_

_“Nora.”_

_His girlfriend keeps talking, all while taking off her shirt and pants and going into the kitchen to open up a soda and scarf down some chips. “And I see that girl I told you about before was there, just squatting maybe 230, 250? Not breaking a sweat at all, looks super hot. Literally_ and _figuratively, as always.”_

_“Nora, we have a gue—“_

_“And I couldn’t see her face,_ but _she had on this sleeveless hoodie from the Argusnauts that went out of production like stupid fast back when we were freshmen. And it had the number 10 on it, so I’m pretty dang certain that I was working out not far from Pyrrha. Nikos.”_

_The redhead tenses up just as Nora walks into the front room in only her underwear. “Can you believe it? I thought she would’ve signed with a team once she graduated or gone to like a super fancy sports college but she’s here! In Beacon! Small world. Oh, hey Jaune, hey Pyrrha Nikos.” She starts to drink her soda._

_..._

_And then she does a spit take because she realizes just who all is in the room. “PYRR—!”_

_Ren rushes over and slaps a hand over his girlfriend’s mouth. Doesn’t stop her from shouting “IT’S PYRRHA NIKOS!” in a shrill voice, but at least there isn’t a noise complaint._

_Sighing in relief, Pyrrha gives him a nod of appreciation. Nora pulls his hand off her mouth and stutters for a bit before realizing she’s half naked in front of not just a guest, a_ celebrity, _and goes around the corner to find some clothes. As for Jaune..._

_“Wait, you’re who?” He asks after eyeing her up and down._

_Pyrrha turns her head to him. “Are you serious?” She asks, but to Ren it doesn’t sound like she’s upset. If anything, she sounds genuinely surprised._

_“Jaune, you himbo, you know who she is,” Nora calls out from his and Ren’s room. “I talked about her all the time during soccer season!”_

_“You talk about a lot of things, Nor,” he points out. He gets to his feet to enter the kitchen, coming back with water for both him and Pyrrha. “Y’know, if you can even drink liquids without short circuiting.”_

_“I’m not a robot,” Pyrrha shoots back testily. “Maybe you should just bulk up.” She drinks her water and delights at the squeak of indignation from him._

_“I’ve been telling his stringy ass to come with us, but nooooooooo,” Nora says as she walks back in, clothes on. “So, welcome to our humble abode. What brings you here?”_

_The blonde and the athlete look at each other before the former dryly says: “I hit a wall.”_

_“Oh okay, it was_ not _that bad,” Pyrrha argues, her cheeks becoming red._

_“Have you felt your body? You’re like an Iron Man!”_

_“I said I was sorry, you’re the one who hit your brakes too late!”_

_“You still could’ve moved outta the way, all’s I’m saying!”_

_“Whatever,” Pyrrha rolls her eyes, brushing a stray strand of hair back into place. “It was nice meeting you all, but I’ll be going now.”_

_“Hey wait, wait,” Nora gets between her and the door. “Don’t you wanna stay for awhile, just relax? We’ve got cookies!”_

_“And Doritos,” Ren adds._

_“Can’t. Have homework.” She maneuvers around Nora, offering a quick “bye” before the door closes._

* * *

**April.**

Okay, so what originally seemed like just a Saturday and Sunday thing is now on day five. Whoops. 

During this time, Pyrrha spends her days jogging with Allison, walking their dog, and honestly not much of anything else. She watches TV, she reads, she works out in the backyard. In fact, beyond the dog walking and jogging (in her disguise, natch), she hasn’t left the house at all. Truth be told, she doesn’t want to be bothered by anyone, and the idea of being seen by people outside of the neighborhood felt about as fun as being poked in the eye by a scorpion, so inside she stays. 

When she gets home from an early evening walk with JD, that monster of a husky, she comes back to Leo in the kitchen cooking up what smells like burgers while Allison is watching some cheesy action movie. 

“Bout time,” Leo jests. “Thought I was going to have to send a search party.” 

“Sorry,” she apologizes and scratches behind JD’s ears. “ _Someone_ decided he wanted scratches from some blonde lady and her kid.” JD walks off to his kennel as she heads to the bathroom to wash up. 

”Smells good,” she says before giving her brother a quick hug. She grabs a plate and assembles two burgers. Once they’ve all gotten food, they return to the front room to watch whatever bad movie is on at the moment.

“By the way,” Allison says as Pyrrha sits down. “You must be pretty popular, because you got some texts while you were gone.”

 _Popular? Please. They probably wanted to know when they can tell you it was only a one time thing._ The athlete ignores the intrusive thought and checks her phone. There’s about a dozen notifications from her friends, some of them days old. She had thought about telling the group chat that she would be fine after the first day, but the thought of seeing them respond sent her into such an anxiety that she didn’t bother. 

She ignores it, instead flipping the phone over and eating her food. After a few more minutes, Leo sits on the chair behind Allison and the three talk. She learns that Allison’s tour is almost over, at which point she plans on going back to school for an architecture degree. Leo works at a video game studio, one that thankfully doesn’t overwork him and pays quite well. She plays a couple and even owns a Switch, but she isn’t at the level that Ruby or Jaune play. 

Then they turn the tables on her and start asking questions. “Alright so tell, do they got your face plastered all over that school yet?” Leo jokes. 

“Actually, I try to keep it so that no one really notices me,” Pyrrha admits. “I don’t want them treating me like I’m some thing to gawk at.” _That, and it’s not like you deserve it. You can kick a ball and dribble, whoop-dee-fuckin-do._

“Booooooo,” Allison jeers. 

“Makes sense,” he concedes. “But you at least talk to some people, right?”

“He’s asking if you’ve got friends,” his girlfriend bluntly says, ignoring the light slap to her back. 

“I’m just saying,” he defends, “you can be kinda, well...” 

“Shy?” Pyrrha asks. 

“Awkward,” they both reply. “I mean, we both know that Dad isn’t exactly, y’know....personable,” Leo adds after a short silence. 

“Putting it lightly,” Allison snorts. “Remember when you came home late after our date?”

“It wasn’t even late, it was like 11:03!”

“Oh god,” Pyrrha laughs, “he was _so_ loud and I had a tournament the next morning. I thought about just stuffing the pillow through my ears and then Mom just comes and chokeholds him.”

They all sigh. “Man. Everyone always says he’s cold and unfeeling, but you wouldn’t know it if you ever piss him off,” Leo says wistfully. 

_I wouldn’t know,_ Pyrrha thinks. It would sound arrogant out loud, but it’s the truth. Fact is, Leonard Church I never expressed any outward, genuine feelings towards her growing up. With Leo, it felt like there was some sort of begrudging respect between the two of them, like being 8 years older and coming from a previous marriage gained him an advantage into their father he only barely understood. 

At times, it felt like their father was actively pitting his children against each other, treating them like another of his experiments. Her mother Kassandra had tried to placate her, saying that he loved her in his own way but simply couldn’t convey it. Had a funny way of showing it if he did. 

Trying to sound nonchalant, Pyrrha changes the subject. “Allison, is it alright if I borrow your car tomorrow?”

“Wait, _you’re_ going out?” Leo feigns shock, even going so far as to gasp loudly. “Who are you, and what have you done with my sister?”

She rolls her eyes. “Shut up, geek, I just wanna go visit Mom.” She turns to Allison, her eyes repeating the original question.

Thankfully, Allison nods in acceptance. “Yeah, I ain’t doing anything tomorrow anyways.”

“Thanks. So, what did you two have planned for the rest of the night?”

“Thought about going to David’s, if you wanna be bothered by those idiots for a bit,” Allison offers. “I know it’s been awhile since you’ve seen them, so lemme warn you: they can be kind of...A Lot.”

“Sure.” Not her first time dealing like someone with that, after all. 

**Early October.**

_Nora is just A Lot, Pyrrha decides. Not long after that day where the blonde one—John, Jwan? She’s got classes with him and she’s still not fully sure how to say it—crashed into her, his roommate had decided to join her in working out. She had assumed that Nora would simply chat and maybe post some pictures on Instagram, which she was ready to shut down, but that never came._

_The two actually do work out, funnily enough. Sometimes it’s together, other times, they’re just in close proximity to one another, handing off water bottles and wiping down one another’s machines. There’s something comforting in how the shorter girl seems to understand that the gym was_ her _time. After a week or so of this, Nora’s decided to just break the unspoken code and began chatting. The redhead was apparently a theater major, which gave her_ plenty _of stories to tell. Pyrrha never outwardly reacts or responds to any of these, but Nora must be psychic, because she_ knows _when she’s telling a good one._

_It’s during one of these stories, as Nora’s finished talking about how she wrote a one act during high school, that the Viking throws her for a loop. “Do you wanna hang out sometime?” Nora asks._

_“Isn’t that what this is?” Pyrrha replies, doing bicep curls._

_“Well yeah, but I mean, like,_ outside _of the gym.”_

_She stops her curls. “Oh.”_

_“Yeah, haha. I mean don’t get me wrong, totally a fan of getting swole with you, but it would be ideal to just chill and not sweat through my shirt.”_

_But this is_ ideal, _Pyrrha wants to argue. This is how she relaxes, how she unwinds all her turmoil at the end of the day._

_“I’ll...” she hesitated before saying, “I’ll think about it.”_

_Nora nods and pats Pyrrha on the shoulder. “Good enough! I gotta go, but I’ll see you later. Oh, and I hope you don’t mind, but I may have takenyourphoneandputmynumberin, alright bye!”_

_Pyrrha barely comprehends what’s been said before Nora is gone, but once she does, she checks her phone and yep, there’s a new contact saved under Nora Thora. Despite the utter ridiculousness, she can’t help but scoff, a ghost of a smile on her face._

**April.**

‘The guys,’ as Pyrrha came to know them, are a group of friends that Leo went to high school and mostly college with. A group of mostly men who were, if nothing else, resilient in how much they disliked how much they liked each other. While Leo would often complain about how dumb they are, he had a soft spot for them. Like any younger child who met their older sibling’s friends, Pyrrha did not interact with them much, though the times she did were memorable for one reason or another. 

There’s David, a nice enough guy with a tan and sandy blonde hair, and Pyrrha can remember he liked throwing knives. To say she went with Leo and Allison to his house is accurate only in that he’s the one resident who seems to have a brain cell. Right now, he’s rambling away with Leo about something at work while she and Allison talk with his housemates, Kaikaina, a girl as plump as Nora with curly amber hair who prefers to be called ‘Kai;’ and Tucker, a dark-skinned man with braids in a loose ponytail. (Two others, Kai’s brother Dexter and his boyfriend Dick, are apparently too busy having dinner with the latter’s parents to attend.)

Tucker’s in the middle of a story with a good joke at the end and Pyrrha laughs. (Allison doesn’t, but it doesn’t mean she didn’t find it funny.) Kai laughs right with her and pokes him in the ribs. “And to think that’s only the second most embarrassing thing that happened to you in a cave.”

Pyrrha raises an eyebrow and asks, “What was the first most embarrassing thing?”

Kai giggles. “ _Well,_ one time, we--”

At that moment, Tucker spills the very little remnants of his drink on himself and mostly Kai. “Oh, no,” he feigns remorse, “your blouse is dirty. You should go change.” 

Kai mutters something that sounds suspiciously like ‘giant fucking asshole’ and unbuttons her blouse just enough to tie the ends together into a makeshift croptop. “Bitch, you thought!” He grumbles, but perks up when she kisses his cheek. “So Pyrrha,” Kai says sweetly. “You know what I have to ask you now that you’re back in town.” 

“Already did that, Kai,” Allison says as she takes another swig of her beer. “Girl’s practically invisible at school.” 

“Psh, who cares about that, I wanna know if you’re seeing anyone!” 

Pyrrha’s eyes go slightly wide before she calms down. “What makes you say that?” 

Kai looks at her like she’s grown a second head. “Wh--?! First of all, you’re gorgeous--no romo,” she and Tucker say simultaneously--”and not only that, but you’re a total sweetheart and you’re buff as shit. You’re like, every gay girl and intelligent man’s dream woman.” 

“Kai’s right,” Tucker agrees. “Like respectfully, if you were around our age--”

“Tucker,” Allison lightly warns. He puts a hand up as a sign of peace. 

“But yeah, you’re definitely a total catch. You sure no one’s asked you out?” 

Pyrrha frowns. She thinks back to that night with Sam, the comments she would get from classmates who thought she wasn’t paying attention, and the comments on her social media feed. She thought of the time she tried Tinder, just on a whim, and how her profile had been reported under claims of using someone else’s photos. 

“No one is interested in me,” Pyrrha finally says, tapping her fingers on the table. She doesn’t notice how Allison watches her with a studious gaze.

“Hey, Pyrrha,” Allison says, “I think I left something in the Puma, can you help me find it?”

Tucker scoffs. “Since when do you need help finding anything?”

Allison gives him a one-fingered salute as she walks aside. Shrugging to Kai and Tucker, Pyrrha follows her. She’s leaning up against the Puma, munching on some skittles. 

“What’s up?” Pyrrha asks. 

“Why are you here?” Allison asks, straight to the point. She taps the trunk of the car for Pyrrha to sit, and the teen complies. “Leo said you just wanted to get away, but he didn’t get any specifics from you.”

The redhead licks her lips before answering. “Something happened, at school. And I don’t really know what to do.”

“Something, like?”

“There’s a boy. I like him, and I have for—well, awhile, let’s leave it at that.”

Allison hums. She pours more candy into her hand and deposits some into Pyrrha’s.

“But also, I think I like girls. I don’t know, I never really thought about any of this. Not since I...with a teammate back in high school.” She doesn’t mention that it’s really because she never thought of herself being with _anyone_. A relationship never seemed viable, and even with her feelings for Jaune, she assumed until recently that he would be a “what could’ve been.”

“That is...” Allison stops chewing. “Not where I thought this was going. Like at all.”

Pyrrha’s cheeks get red as she continues, “Yeah. And I didn’t know who else to talk to, because their friends are my friends, and we’re all close, and—“

Allison throws her non-candy filled hand up. She finishes the candy off before simply saying, “Huh. So you like boys and girls. Is that right?” 

Pyrrha nods, feeling her entire face flare up. She waits for some type of response, _any,_ from Allison. 

And then the brunette laughs. “Is that it?”

What? “Wh, what do you mean, ‘is that it’?”

“The way you’ve been dodging questions and avoiding your phone, Leo and I thought you were pregnant—“

“Okay, _hold on_ —“

“And we, or rather _I_ cuz your brother can’t punch worth shit, would have to fly down and beat some twerp’s ass.” She turns to look Pyrrha in the eye and sigh. “Kid, there is nothing wrong with you in the slightest.”

Like a child, Pyrrha pouts. “Sure feels like it.”

“Trust me,” Allison wraps an arm around Pyrrha’s shoulder and brings her close. “Everyone’s kinda messed up in their own ways, but nothing’s messed up about who you love.” 

They stay like that a little longer before Allison goes back inside, leaving Pyrrha alone. When she finally walks back in, she sees Allison sitting on the arm of the couch, Leo’s hand keeping her from tumbling off. Kai and Tucker are at the threshold of the kitchen, laughing about something as David hands them both a drink. He smiles and then kisses them both before going back to Leo and Allison.

Later, after they’ve returned home, Pyrrha is sitting on the couch in her pajamas and watching when Leo sits by her. At some point, her brother scooted closer to her until their arms are touching. And then his arm goes around her shoulder to give her a hug. 

“Um...not that I don’t appreciate this, but what’s this for?” Pyrrha asks. 

“I can’t just hug my sister?” Leo shoots back. “Maybe I’ve decided to not be a dick nowadays.” 

“You threw a pen at Tucker and clipped him in the ear, just to get his attention.” 

He swats at her shoulder and starts to get up. “Yeah, yeah, see if I do anything nice for you ever again.” Halfway between the living room and his and Allison’s room, Leo walks back over to his sister. “Hey, Pyr?”

“Mm?” She turns her head. 

It’s a moment before he simply says, “I’m proud of you,” and leaves to go to sleep.  
  


**Halloween.**

_Pyrrha resists the urge to groan as she waits for Nora to finish getting ready. “Remind me again why I decided to go along with this.”_

_Sitting on the couch wearing a short sleeved dark green ninja outfit, Ren sips his tea. “You need a team of at least four to compete in the costume contest,” he answers. “And since Yang is out of town visiting her sister...”_

_“And Weiss said she’d rather die than ‘wear a silly costume in public,’” Nora mimics their friend’s voice perfectly, “It had to be you! Plus, you love us.”_

_Ignoring the second point entirely, Pyrrha sighs and examines herself for what’s probably the fifth or sixth time. “Where’d you get this costume anyways?” It’s a brown corset with a black miniskirt, along with bronze bracers for her arms and greaves for her legs. The heels...actually didn’t look that bad, but she swapped them out for her red trainers instead, just so her feet wouldn’t die._

_“It was in the Greek section of the costume store!”_

There’s no way the Greeks or Romans wore this, _Pyrrha thinks to herself. “Do I_ have _to bring the javelin?”_

_“The javelin completes the ensemble! You look like a badass gladiator!”_

_Ren chuckles at Pyrrha’s grousing. “In her defense, she_ did _ask if you wanted to go costume shopping and you blew her off. Repeatedly.”_

 _That’s because Pyrrha thought with enough refusals and dodges, Nora would get the hint that no, she wouldn’t go with them to costume themed trivia night. But then again, it’s not exactly like she was going to_ do _anything else on Halloween weekend other than try to avoid Cinder and her weird friend Mercury, if possible._

_Rather than admit any of that, however, she asks a question that’s been on her mind for a few days now. “What’s the theme supposed to be here?”_

_“History,” Ren answers before pointing at himself. “Ninja.” At her. “Gladiator. And when Jaune gets here, he’ll be...”_

_The front door opens and in comes Jaune, wearing pieces of plastic knight armor that make it look like he ran off with as much of the costume as he can carry. He really only has the chest plate, bracers, and greaves, along with the sword and shield. Underneath the armor is a black shirt and jeans._

_“Where’s the rest of your costume?” Pyrrha questions._

_“I’ll put it on when we get there,” he answers before speaking louder, “Nora, c’mon, I wanna get there before those 80085 guys take our table!”_

_Nora threatens, “Do_ not _rush me, or I will bring the wrath of Odin down on you!”_

_Jaune mimics her and sighs. His gaze goes to Pyrrha, and he looks her up and down before snorting._

_“What?” Pyrrha challenges._

_“It’s nothing, I just...I think I’m gonna start calling you Trojanbot from now on. Get it? Cuz--”_

_“Yeah, yeah, laugh it up. You look like the squire who snuck his way into stopping the castle from being invaded.” They both crack up at that. After a few more minutes, Nora_ finally _emerges from the bathroom in Viking regalia, complete with a beard that twists into little braids. Even parts of her hair have been braided._

_“Alright, my friends,” Nora points to the door, “let’s go win us a trivia!” She leaves, with Ren following suit not long after._

Let’s get this over with, _Pyrrha thinks. She takes two steps before she feels a hand envelope hers. “What’s up?” she asks Jaune._

_He looks up at her with concern and asks, “You gonna be alright? It hasn’t been that long since...” He means the breakdown she had about two weeks ago, when she finally decided to take Nora up on her offer of hanging out. There had been a rough start to the night, with Ren and Nora at her side as Jaune held her hand while she cried. Things had improved once they watched Vine playlists, but it wasn’t something any of them were likely to forget._

_Pyrrha nods. “I’ll be fine.”_

_It’s enough for Jaune, and he gives her hand a squeeze before letting go. “Just say the word,” he says softly, “and we’ll leave, alright?”_

_She nods, and the two walk out the apartment. After he locks it, the two walk to the car side by side in silence. “Maybe I should call you my squire in shining armor,” she jokes._

_There’s a loud snort that comes from him. “You know me. Slayer of women, wooer of evil.”_

_He realizes his gaffe too late for her to not laugh loudly. “You couldn’t hurt me with a bike, I think I’m safe.”_

_“Yeah, you say that,” he gives her a smirk and winks, “but I’ll find your Achilles heel someday.”_

_Pyrrha laughs to herself as they reach the car. She takes the passenger seat as Nora and Ren take the back, and she studies Jaune as he makes sure everyone is ready and starts the car._

Maybe not a slayer of women quite yet, but pretty cute right now, _she thinks to herself as she fastens her seatbelt. And then her face twists into shock as she processes her thoughts._

 _Wait, where did_ that _come from?_

* * *

**April.**

Pyrrha drums her fingers idly along the steering wheel. On one hand, she should absolutely quit screwing around and knock on the door like she said she would 15 minutes ago. (Especially when it’s this hot, yeesh, Yang would combust here.) On the other hand....she really wished she had psyched herself up longer at Leo’s house before asking to borrow Allison’s car for this little venture. 

“Screw it,” she finally says after another few minutes. Steeling herself, she leaves and walks up to the front door, knocking twice before waiting. The door opens, and she finds herself staring at a woman almost as tall as her, with bronze skin and flowing red hair not too dissimilar from her own. They even have the same green eyes, and were it not for the wrinkles and glasses, they could easily be mistaken as twins.

“Hi, Mom,” Pyrrha says. 

Stunned, Kassandra Nikos stares at her daughter before wrapping her in a tight embrace. “Agapiménos,” Kassandra says in Greek before switching to English, “I had no idea you were coming! Come, come.” She drags Pyrrha inside. 

“It was actually kind of sudden,” Pyrrha admits as she takes a seat. “We’re on spring break, so I figured why not, right?” Her eyes roam the walls of her mother’s apartment, taking in the various mementos from her globetrotting that were occasionally interspersed with Pyrrha and Leo as kids. There aren’t many that feature all four of them as the family they used to be, and Pyrrha feels like the absence of those photos cuts at her heart a little, given the reason for her visit. 

A moment later, Kassandra returns with water for her daughter and tea for herself. “So, how have you been? I know it’s been some time since we talked over the phone. How is school? Have you made friends?” 

Pyrrha sighs. “I’m fine, Mom. School is fine, and I’ve got friends, I just...I came here to ask you something. And I need you to be completely honest with me.” 

Kassandra nods and says, “Of course.”

Hesitantly, the younger Nikos asks, “How did you know that you loved Dad?”

Her mother stares at her in surprise. “We haven’t been together in nearly three years. Why ask now?”

“Answer my question, and then I’ll answer yours.”

....”Very well. I suppose I knew around our fourth or fifth date. By this time, we had gotten used to each other’s rather strange schedules, since he was majoring in computer science, and I was doing my masters for history, plus some teaching on the side. One day, I suddenly found myself swamped with assignments, and I felt like I was being overwhelmed. And your father, he,” she smiles. “He comes by and takes me to the park. And we start playing Horse. He wins, we would spend the rest of the day taking time off from our work. I win, I go back home. Naturally, I won.”

“Naturally,” Pyrrha smirks. Her athleticism is just one of many things she inherited from her mother. 

“We spent nearly an hour playing, because your father kept convincing me with ‘just one more game, I’ve got you this time.’ But it turns out that Malaka, he had won all along. He got me out of the house, so focused on the game, that I managed to avoid thinking about work until he took me home later that day.” She smiles to herself at the memory. 

“Pretty smart.”

“It was clever,” Kassandra corrects. “He knew how to use my one weakness against me. We Nikos women can’t back down from a challenge. And he knew I succeeded in whatever I put my mind to. Well,” she strokes Pyrrha’s cheek and looks regretful, “except one.”

Pyrrha closes her eyes and leans into the touch. As an explorer, Kassandra found herself leaving the country more often than not. There was so much she missed out on as Pyrrha grew up in her pursuit of adventure and excitement. “To moró mou,” Kassandra mutters in Greek, “Den tha xecháso poté ton chróno pou cháthike.”

“Eínai entáxei, mamá,” Pyrrha replies. She doesn’t want to hash out old wounds, the two have discussed at length the way Kassandra’s extended absences affected Pyrrha not long after the divorce. It had been a _rough_ conversation, but the two women had come out of it stronger. 

Switching back to English, Kassandra says, “So, I’ve answered your question.” Her eyes light with suspicion. “Now, you answer mine. Has someone claimed your heart?”

Pyrrha blushes, bites the inside of her cheek before answering. “Ssssssssssssssort of? It’s like--” She rubs her temples as she thinks about what to say. “There’s this boy. I like him.” She realizes how refreshing it is to say that to her mother, to talk about this like she’s just a normal girl. “But there’s also this girl.”

Kassandra pats her knee. “Aw, sweetie. Believe it or not, that happens to everyone like us at some point or another--”

“Aaaaaaaaaaand there’s also another boy. Who is dating the girl, and they’re all best friends. And last week, we all did...” Pyrrha does something with her hands before finally saying, “ _That_.” 

There are no words between mother and daughter for a solid 30 seconds as Kassandra sips her tea before she places the cup on the saucer and simply says: “Oh.” She realizes how bad that reflects on her and clears her throat to give a real answer. “All three of them? Really?”

“Mom!” Pyrrha screeches, heat rushing to her face. 

“Sorry, I just. Well, I always figured you would come into yourself eventually, I just didn’t think--”

_“Moooooooooooooooom.”_ Pyrrha cuts that train of thought immediately. “Please. This has _never_ happened to me before, and I feel so helpless, and I don’t want to end up like you and Dad, and...I don’t know what to do.” She feels tears brimming in her eyes and looks away.

Kassandra reaches over and cups her daughter’s head. “Oh, sweetie,” she wipes at her daughter’s tears. “You are not bound to the past of me and your father. You can love as freely and as much as you want, but it has to be _your_ choice.” 

Pyrrha sniffles. “B-b-but...I don’t know how. What if I don’t do enough?”

“You don’t have to do it all at once, glykiá mou. It’s like with your workouts: you pace yourself, slow and steady, and then move on to the next challenge. Okay?” She waits for Pyrrha to nod before letting go and offering her a tissue. 

“Thanks, mom,” Pyrrha dabs at her tears. “I really needed this. And, I think I’ll go back tomorrow.”

“You’re sure?”

“No time like the present to take things one at a time, right?” 

“I hope they treat you well, whatever you decide. If they don’t,” Kassandra shakes a fist and then flexes. “They may call you the Invincible Girl, but they’ll see why _I_ used to be called the Unstoppable Woman.” 

Pyrrha giggles. “I’m sure they won’t do that, mom.” 

“If you say so. But...” Her eyes become catlike, and Pyrrha feels a sense of unease within her. “Why don’t you tell me some more about the three who have made you so enamored? Clearly, they must be something special. And pretty good looking, too.” 

“Mom!” Pyrrha laughs. “Okay, so it all began one day when I was walking from the gym...”

**Early November.**

_Pyrrha paces back and forth, her footsteps quiet on the concrete. She’s chewing the straw of her milkshake until it’s beyond recognition, occasionally mumbling to herself. “I can’t believe this,” she mutters to herself. “This can’t be happening.”_

_Sitting cross legged on the park table with a smoothie of his own Ren opens an eye to look at her. “Don’t you think you’re overreacting a bit?”_

_She rounds on him. “Overreacting?! It’s—“ Her voice goes to a hushed whisper—“I thought that_ Jaune Arc _was cute! Me! Jaune!_ ”

 _“But, he is. In the same way that you’re beautiful or I’m handsome.” He flashes a smile, and there’s a_ ting! _from his pearly whites._

_“I just—ugh,” Pyrrha sits at the table and plants her head on the table, groaning. Ren pats her head._

_“Maybe it was an intrusive thought?” Ren asks._

_Pyrrha lifts her head up. “Maybe, but. If it was, then why am I--?” She hesitates. The truth is, this isn’t the “intrusive thought” she’s had about him. He’s not bad looking, she knew that when they first met, but in befriending him over the weeks, enduring his silly robot jokes and hearing him help Nora run lines or act out his creative writing, these thoughts became more common. Dare she say it, she found Jaune Diego* Arc_ attractive. _And that felt weird._

_(*not his middle name, not even close)  
  
_

_“I’m honestly not sure what you want me to say,” the boy admits._

_“Tell me I’m crazy!” The redhead whines. “Say that I’m just lonely, that I lost my mind! Tell me something embarrassing about him that’ll make these feelings go away!”_

_“Do you want them to go away?”_

_“Yes....no? I don’t know!” Frustration brews within her as she tries to make sense of her emotions._

_Ren studies her for a moment in silence. She’s always appreciated that about him; whereas Nora is practically sound personified and Jaune himself just goes with whatever flow the four of them are on, Ren is stable. He’s the only one that she could see himself talking to about her feelings because he, always calm and steady, would help her make sense of her brain just through being physically present with her. Truly, it was him who spent most of the trio’s time reassuring her that they cared about her during her breakdown not too long ago._

_Out of nowhere, Ren says, “The day that I realized how I felt about Nora, I felt like I had been sucker punched.” He chuckles to himself. “I had come over to her house, and her grandma wasn’t home, she just wanted me there because the silence was getting to her. And we go to her room, and hanging above her bed is this plastic hammer I got her at this carnival when we were in like seventh grade. And I’ve seen that hammer over that bed_ numerous _times, but whatever it was, that day...”_

_“That’s when you knew,” Pyrrha finishes._

_“That’s when I knew.”_

_One of Ren’s hands goes for Pyrrha’s, and their fingers thread together. “Whatever you feel for Jaune, it’s okay to explore these feelings,” he continues. “There’s nothing wrong with you.”_

_Pyrrha frowns. “But Weiss—“_

_“Is what he_ thinks _he wants,” he interjects, but not harshly. “And I doubt she will oblige him.”_

 _“But....how do I know he’s what_ I _want?” She asks. It comes out more like a whisper._

_“Maybe he is. Maybe he isn’t. But you won’t know if you try talking yourself out of it, don’t allow yourself to feel.”_

_Their hands separate, and just in time as Jaune and Nora come over. While the redhead is happily slurping down her smoothie, the blond lacks such a treat, and in fact looks rather dejected. He sits next to Pyrrha and drums his knuckles on Ren’s shoe._

_Ren raises an eyebrow to his girlfriend, silently asking about their friend. Nora sits on the table next to him._

_“He asked Weiss out,” she says to him and Pyrrha. “It didn’t go well.”_

_Ren reaches over and pats him on the shoulder. “Sorry, Jaune. I know how much you liked.”_

_Jaune shrugs. “It’s fine,” he mutters, but it sounds like a lie. “Least I can say I tried, right?”_

_Pyrrha frowns and looks down into what remains of her smoothie. Suddenly, she perks up and just removes the lid to let it fall into her mouth. Once she’s finished it all, she wipes her mouth and tape Jaune on the shoulder._

_His blue eyes go to her, and in a terrible Austrian accent, she says: “Jaune Arc, I have refueled and am at 100% capacity again. Prepare to be terminated.”_

_He looks at her, perplexed as hell, so she continues. “You are my prime directive. Prepare to die. Dead or alive, you’re coming with me, punk.” When she gets confused looks for the second time, she loses the accent and asks, “That’s the movie, right?”_

_For whatever reason, it’s that that gets a chuckle out of Jaune. Then giggles, and then full blown laughter._

_“There he is!” Nora giggles. He calms down, just enough to look at Pyrrha with amusement in his eyes. Not just that, but gratitude. And from his smile, and the way the sun catches his eyes, she has a thought in her head that is anything but intrusive._

_Well,_ shit, _she thinks to herself,_ I guess I have a crush on Jaune Arc.

**April.**

Pyrrha had insisted that she could take an Uber to the airport, no really, but Leo, Allison, and her mother wouldn’t hear it. In fact, they had all but demanded that they pile into Leo’s truck and take her all the way to her gate. 

“Wait!” Leo says before her flight starts boarding. “Before you go, we just wanted to give you something.”

Pyrrha tilts her head. When did they have time to get her a gift? And then that thought is washed away, as she’s wrapped in a group hug from all three of them, all of them offering their own words of assurance. 

“It’ll be okay, Pyr--” 

“You are still you, no matter what--”

“Agapó eléfthera kai plíros, kóri mou--”

When they break apart, Pyrrha wipes at her face. “Dammit,” she laughs, “you guys can’t make me cry two days in a row!”

“Sorry,” Leo says, even though he sounds anything but. He gives her a pat on the shoulder and a hug. “Next time you come by, maybe don’t do it to run away from your problems?”

“No promises.” 

“I still think you’re too good for him,” Pyrrha says to Allison. Next to Allison, Leo gives a “hey!” in outrage. 

“Oh, I definitely am,” the brunette replies. She smirks and gives Pyrrha a handshake. “Just like how you’re a fighter and you’ll give this 110%, right?” 

“You know it.” 

And finally, her mother. Kassandra again wraps her in a hug and kisses her temple. “Slow and steady.”

“Slow and steady,” Pyrrha nods. “I’ll let you know how it goes.”

“It better go well. If that Jaune boy thinks he can run into you _and_ break your heart...”

“Mom!” 

“I’m kidding...mostly. But tell that Nora girl that we will definitely arm wrestle one day.” 

Pyrrha smiles. “I will.” She gives them all one last smile before bidding goodbye and stepping in line for her flight home. 

* * *

The first thing that Pyrrha does after her flight lands--well, right after texting her family to let them know that she had a safe flight, of course--is drive to her friends’ apartment. She leaves her car and takes the elevator to their floor as fast as possible, because she knows that she wants to get this done before her brain is filled with ‘what ifs’ and hypotheticals that could paralyze her with fear. 

She knocks on the door, because while she may have a copy of their key given to her by Nora, she still considers herself a guest there. No sooner that she knocks does Ren open the door, looking gobsmacked at the sight of her. Behind him, she can spot Jaune and Nora on the couch playing video games, though they’re not paying attention to the TV. 

Awkwardly, Pyrrha waves. “Hello. I, um...can I come in?” Ren steps to the side to let her in, and she takes two steps before she’s caught in a bear hug by Nora. And then she’s struck with deja vu as Jaune and Ren join in and surround her. 

“Where have you been?” Nora demands after stepping away. “Are you okay? Were you safe? Why couldn’t you answer your phone? Did--”

Pyrrha cuts her off. “I’m fine. I’m sorry that I didn’t answer your messages and made you worry, I just didn’t know what to say. Sending a text didn’t feel right, not after...” she trails off and looks at Jaune. “Can we talk? Alone?” They both look at Nora and Ren, who take the hint and retreat into Ren’s room. (It takes about five seconds for the couple to peek their heads to watch the conversation.)

The pair go to sit down at the couch, and for a moment, they say nothing. There’s plenty of furtive glances between them and attempts at conversation but they trip over one another as they try to approach the elephant in the room. 

Jaune, thank god, clears his throat and finally speaks. “I just wanted to say that, um. I’m sorry.” 

Wait, what? That’s not how this is supposed to go. “Wait, why are _you_ apologizing?” Pyrrha asks. 

“I mean, things got _pre-_ tty out of control that night. We were all drunk, and Nora was...Nora--”

“I resent that!” Nora calls out from the hall,

“So I guess, I understand why you did what you did. I’m just sorry that you felt like you had to leave.”

“Jaune,” Pyrrha considers her words. “Well, first of all, thank you. But, I didn’t leave because of anything you guys did. I left, because. Look, can I be honest with you?” 

“Mmhm.” 

“I’ve never really _done_ this. It’s all new to me, and I kind of...”

“Freaked out and decided you had to see your brother and mom in Argus?” 

“Yeah, that.” She chuckles and slides closer to him. “Sounds pretty stupid when you say it like that.” 

“Definitely sounds like Nora is a bad influence on you,” he agrees. 

Yet again from the hallway, Nora gasps. “How dare you! I’m a great influence! The Haywood kids love me!”

“ _Nora,_ please,” Ren stresses, like he also isn’t watching his friends. “Ignore us, you two. Please, continue.” 

Jaune and Pyrrha giggle. And then he gives her a smirk. “Can I ask you something? And, please don’t hit me after I ask it.”

“Okay....”

He waits for a second before asking, “Can robots kiss?” And then he leans forward to bring their lips together. It’s over before she registers what’s just happened, and when he pulls away, he is beet red.

“Oh my god,” Nora and Ren whisper simultaneously. 

“Sorry,” Jaune apologizes, looking away. “I know that’s not one of my best, but--”

She grabs his neck and brings their lips together. There’s a moment of surprise before his arms wrap around her midsection to bring her closer, and her fingers go through his hair. And this feels great, and it feels _right,_ and then they are breaking apart and breathily laughing, just inches away from each other. 

“I can’t believe you used a robot joke to kiss me,” she chuckles. 

“Mmm, can’t you, though?” Jaune counters, leaning forward to kiss her again real quick. 

“Dork. I can’t believe I like you.” 

“Me neither.”

“I can,” Nora comes from around the corner and sits next to Pyrrha on the couch. “Knew it the moment I saw you bicker back and forth, didn’t I, Ren?” 

Ren sits on the arm of the couch behind Jaune. “She never said that.”

“Traitor.” 

Pyrrha giggles before addressing the three of them. “So. About the four of us.” 

“We had actually talked about that yesterday and some of today,” Ren says after sharing a look with Nora and Jaune, “but we weren’t sure how _you_ felt and wanted to wait before continuing further.”

Pyrrha leans back into Nora as Ren begins his explanation. At some point, her fingers become entwined with Jaune’s, and she feels a warmth in her from having Nora wrapped around her like, well, a sloth. And midway through their conversation, Ren gives her a warm smile that sets her at ease before continuing to unload information on her. 

_Maybe not quite as slow as you wanted, Mom,_ Pyrrha thinks to herself with a smile. _But I feel steady_. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *snuffs out cigarette* So...let’s talk about Pyrrha Fucking Nikos.
> 
> In the original show, she is...well, not much of anything in the way of characterization, particularly her past. And I knew I wanted to give backstories to everyone, which presented a unique dilemma. Fortunately, Jen Brown likes playing athletic, green-eyed redheads in Rooster Teeth productions, so I gave her the backstory (and really some character traits) of Agent Carolina from Red vs. Blue, with some tweaking done to fit the story.
> 
> Incidentally, if you’re confused about what this whole thing is about, please read the second chapter of the other story in this series, Ren & Nora’s Big Adventure. I chug that poly JNPR shit like it’s Mountain Dew, bruh 
> 
> Also some news! This is gonna be the last chapter for possibly the remainder of the summer. It’s not the end of the story completely—I have more stories that I wanna tell with these characters—but I definitely need a break, since I write this, some other stories on this site, and other things. Hope you understand.
> 
> Have a good one!


	17. Straightening Up

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The gang has a talk to set the record straight. Or, not straight, as it turns out.

_Previously on Real Housemates:_

_Yang chuckled like she hadn’t just almost gotten bowled over. “I would like to come out... as_ punsexual. _”_

_Weiss also didn’t go to the gym because she was pretty certain she would die from being_ so totally gay. _(Well, okay, she was fairly certain she still had an attraction to men. But, women tho.)_

_Jaune shrugs, again, and grabs another slice of cheese pizza. “I’ve kissed some dudes before,” he explains._

_“I like a guy. But also, I think I like girls,” Pyrrha explains. “I don’t know, I never really thought about any of this. Not since I...with a teammate back in high school.”_

* * *

**September. Sophomore year.**

  
  


“Jaune,” Weiss begins at 2:12 pm on a Sunday where everyone’s at JNPR’s apartment, “what is it like being a straight white man?” 

The blonde, sitting on Pyrrha’s back as she does push-ups, turns to her. “Excuse me?” He asks dumbly. Which, fair, no one expects that question out of the blue. 

“What is it like being a straight white man,” Weiss repeats, setting her phone to the side to give him her full attention. 

He shrugs. “I dunno.”

“Wh—?! What do you mean, ‘you dunno?’”

He chuckles. “You know I’m not, like, 2/3 of the things you said, right?” There’s a short silence before he goes, “I’m bi, Weiss.”

Her face twists into confusion. “Wait what? Since _when_?”

“I mean, teeeeeeechnically seventh or eighth grade?”

“Weiss,” Pyrrha looks up at her, “did you not know that?”

“Even _I_ knew that,” Ruby says while drawing from her position on the arm of the couch. 

On the other end of the couch, Blake listens to the conversation while reading her book. "Ditto," she adds. 

“No, no wait, it actually may have been sixth,” Jaune continues, “I _did_ think Daniel Radcliffe was cute in the Harry Potter movies. And then there was Chris Evans, Zayn....”

Weiss sputters, “I’ve only ever seen him interested in me and, well,” she gestures to Pyrrha. “What’s the other one?”

Taken out of his childhood thoughts, Jaune simply grins: “I’m half-Mexican.”

“Hey, me too!” Ruby reaches over and they high five. Then she rolls off the couch, her sketchbook flopping on her face. 

“That—wait,” Weiss raises an eyebrow. “If you’re Mexican, then why are you so _white_?”

Everyone but Weiss says it. Yang and Ren say it from the kitchen. Blake's gold eyes shine with amusement as she prepares to say it. Nora says it from around the corner as she grabs some cookies from the pantry. 

_“Oh my god, Karen, you can’t just ask someone why they’re white!”_

Weiss simply waits for their laughter to die down, crossing her arms and grumbling to herself. She hates these idiots so much. (No she doesn’t, she loves them all to death.)

The good natured ribbing is enough to get them all to congregate in the front room, Nora and Ren filling up the space on the couch that Ruby’s absence provided. In lieu of the couch, Yang sits next to Weiss, crossing her legs. Jaune remains on his girlfriend’s back, and Ruby rolls over to lay on her front. 

Weiss rolls her eyes. “Okay, okay, I’m sorry for assuming.”

“No problem,” Jaune shrugs. “Blame my three older sisters for stealing the melanin in the womb.”

Yang snorts. “Gross. Hey Weiss, you know that I’m Chinese, right? And not Japanese? I know how hard that is for some people.”

Weiss sighs. “Yes, Yang, and _yes_ , I also know you’re pansexual.”

“Punsexual, but thank you! Mother was Romani, and my daddy was Chinese! It’s where I got my good looks!”

“I’m part-Chinese, too!” Ruby chimes in. She and Yang high five. “I also got our dad’s good looks.” She tries to grin and wink. Poorly. 

“That’s not all you got from Dad,” Yang snickers. “So, who’s next?”

“Are we really going to go around just saying what we are?” Blake asks without looking up from her book. 

Nora shrugs. “Are we really doing anything else besides listening to 90s jams and waiting for Ruby to eat all my Pringle’s?” 

...”Yeah, good point,” Blake shrugs and closes her book. “I’m Indian.”

Mid push-up, Pyrrha looks to Blake from the corner of her eyes. “Did guys used to do that thing where they say—“

Blake and Yang both join in, all three of them making their voices deeper to emulate men: “You’re so ‘exotic!’” They burst into giggles. 

“Aaaaaaand,” Jaune points at himself, then Ren, “you’re part of the Bi Brigade with Ren and I—“

“Ren and _me_ ,” the other boy corrects. It makes Nora cackle and punch her boyfriend’s shoulder. Jaune just narrows his eyes. 

“...Ren and me. ” Despite the correction, they still both high five. 

“Let it be known that I did not agree to that name,” Blake points out, “but yes, I am.” She looks to Ren and Nora. 

Nora waves. “Hi, everyone. My name is Nora Valkyrie—“

“Hi, Nora,” they all say,

“And I’m white. And also a thunder god.”

“Nora,” Ren chastises, but with a smile on his lips. “We’re all being serious here.”

“So am I! What, don’t you remember that time for like a week I convinced Jaune that it rains every time I—“

“Noraaaaaaa, didn’t you say you came up with a name for a group of pansexuals?” Pyrrha asks, none too subtly changing the subject. 

“That’s right! Yang, what if we call ourselves...the Pansexual Platoon?”

Yang rubs her chin in thought. While she does that, Ren simply says, “I am Chinese,” like that says everything. (In some ways, it sort of does.) 

“Greek,” Pyrrha grunts as she puts her weight on her forearms. “And white, I guess, ‘cuz of my dad. And...” She looks up at Nora, then Ren. “I don’t really know where I fall on that whole sexuality grid yet.” Atop her back, Jaune pats her shoulder. 

“Likewise,” Weiss nods. “I definitely like women,” she ignores Yang’s waggling eyebrows and Pyrrha’s curious look. “And men are...” she looks to Ren, who stares her down for a few seconds, then winks. “Tolerable, sometimes.” 

Ruby just shrugs. “Like, sometimes guys and girls are cute. Sometimes, not so much. Who’s to say!” She blows a raspberry. 

“You guys will figure it out,” Yang smiles. “We did.” 

“Gaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay,” Weiss says. Everyone goes silent and looks at her in surprise. Even Pyrrha stares at her friend. Under all the scrutiny, Weiss fidgets and looks away. “Did...did I do it right?” 

For whatever reason, _that’s_ what gets Pyrrha to laugh. The athlete just plops herself on the floor and laughs, never mind the fact that her boyfriend is still on her back. It starts a chain reaction until all eight of them are all laughing again. 

“We sure are, Weiss,” Yang chuckles. “We sure are.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So something occurred to me over the summer as I was writing some other stuff for this series: I did not describe at all how these people freaking looked. And that was rather important since I had free reign to be as diverse as I wished -- hence, chubby Nora (your idea of that will no doubt vary from mine), dark-skinned Blake, visibly biracial Yang and Ruby, so forth. 
> 
> As for sexuality, well, same thing. I knew going in that the core eight wouldn't be straight, and likewise the supporting cast would also all fall somewhere on the grid; I've currently got a list of where the majority of the people in this story fall on the LGBT spectrum. Imma just say this once, if you don't like it, you can fuck off into a volcano, cuz I ain't dealing with your shit. (Also, these are MY views on these characters, so don't crawl up my butt if they don't adhere to yours.)
> 
> See ya around!


	18. Rumblecore

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ruby and Yang get into a fight.

**Sophomore year, October. **

**[8 jackasses standing in a circle (3 members online)]**

**Gambol_Shroud:** um. i think ruby+yang r about to fight?????

**WeissShcream:** ?! Where?!

**Thora Valkyrie:** tell them to wait so we can sell tickets! and popcorn!

**WeissShcream:** This is no time for jokes, thunderous clown! Blake, where are you?

**Gambol_Shroud:** at Beacon Park...

* * *

To say Weiss was concerned was an understatement. Much as she was loathe to admit it, the sisterly bond between Ruby and Yang was something she always admired, even envied to some extent. The two appeared thick as thieves, as the saying goes, and her mind ran wild with possibilities as to why they would resort to physical violence. 

Needless to say, she may have possibly ran a light or two on her drive to the park. Finding Yang’s car was easy enough, and there’s thankfully an empty space for her to park next to it. Likewise, finding her friends was rather easy, given they were far away from other park goers. It appeared the sisters hadn’t even gotten started yet; Yang was in the middle of rolling her shoulders, while Ruby opted to bounce on the balls of her feet. 

Walking over to Pyrrha and Blake, Weiss demands answers. “What’s going on? What happened?” 

Blake shrugs. “We were with Yang and Ruby, and then the next thing I know, Yang drove us here.” 

“That’s it?” 

Blake nods. “She just looked at Ruby, said ‘let’s fight,’ and then.” She gestures to the sisters. Yang has thrown off her t-shirt for a neon yellow sports bra that’s...honestly kind of hideous (despite how good she still makes it look), while Ruby kicks her tennis shoes off. She’s just wearing a regular red shirt. 

“We haven’t been here that long,” Pyrrha explains. “They just talked for a bit and then started doing this.” She looks to her friends, still preparing for their bout. “I didn’t think Yang and Ruby even  _ could  _ get into a fight.” 

“Well, what do we  _ do _ ?” Weiss demands. “We can’t just let them beat each other up!” 

Pyrrha’s mouth opens and closes repeatedly, like a goldfish. After a moment, she simply shrugs. “I don’t know what we  _ can  _ do, Weiss.”

  
  


Finished with her stretches, Yang looks to her younger sister. “You ready?” She pulls the hair tie off her wrist and gets it settled into a neat ponytail similar to Pyrrha’s. When Ruby nods, Yang clenches her fists and takes a fighting stance. Ruby does the same. The two circle one another, footsteps crunching on the grass. Purple eyes bore into silver. 

Yang stops circling. Ruby halts her pacing. 

Ruby’s eyes narrow. Yang raises an eyebrow, then raises a single finger in a “come hither” motion. 

Ruby scowls. 

(Weiss is  _ very  _ close to biting her fingernails.) 

It’s Ruby who initiates, charging toward her sister to do a flying kick. Yang simply reaches out with her prosthetic and grabs the foot, throwing her sister to the side. Instead of landing on the grass with a thud, Ruby lands on her feet with a neat little slide. Again, she charges toward her sister, this time going for an open palm strike that Yang easily swats away. And the next one. And the next one. 

Several palm strikes are thrown Yang’s way, all of which she bats away like they’re flies. With each failed attempt, Ruby’s retaliations get sloppier, which is what Yang takes advantage of by kicking her square in the chest. The sensation knocks Ruby down on the ground as she clutches her abdomen. 

“Ruby!” Weiss doesn’t know which one of them says it, but she moves forward along with Blake and Pyrrha. They get about two steps before Yang throws a hand towards them. 

The blonde looks at all three of them, saying with all seriousness, “ _ Stay out of this. _ ” She turns to Ruby. “Again?” 

In lieu of words, Ruby gets to her feet. Once she’s certain that she won’t double over in pain, she takes off again, darting right for her sister. Yang throws a hand up, ready to swat away a punch or kick-- 

But Ruby feints, moving to her sister’s side and delivering a solid punch that makes Yang hiss. Before she can retaliate, Ruby spins around to her sister’s front and delivers a kick to  _ her  _ chest before backing off, bouncing on her toes. Once she’s sure that Yang is fine, she runs forward again, darting left, right, before doing a pirouette and  _ jumping  _ into the air. 

Ruby’s foot is  _ so close  _ to Yang’s face, enough for the blonde to lean her head back just slightly. Taking advantage of the surprise, Ruby does a roundhouse kick into her sister’s face. Yang stumbles backwards, clutching at her nose. When she looks down at her prosthetic, there’s a small streak of blood across her pointer finger. 

Yang chuckles. And then her eyes go red. Throwing her arms behind her, the blonde does a Naruto run toward her sister. 

Is she as fast as Ruby? Nope, not even close, but she’s high on adrenaline, and that counts for a lot. 

Which means that it takes no time for her to close the distance between them, pulling her prosthetic back to deliver a punch aimed right at Ruby’s head...that the dark-haired girl easily ducks under with a yelp. But just as quickly as she threw the punch, Yang’s other fist goes towards Ruby’s stomach, connecting solidly with the palm of her sister’s hand. The two struggle before Yang grunts and does a cartwheel, sending them both to the ground. Yang is the first to get up, rolling her shoulders before jumping into the air. She cocks her fist back and yells--

“YANG!”

“RUBY!”

“DON’T DO IT!”

\--and Yang’s fist hits the dirt next to her sister’s head. Ruby, who screwed her eyes shut, opens them and sees how close the fist was. She looks up at her sister, and Yang leans back with a smile, offering her hand. 

Once they’re both to their feet, Yang wipes some dirt off Ruby’s cheeks and looks her over. “You good?” Ruby nods, and the two sisters hug. “Let’s go home.” After gathering their things, the sisters return to their friends, who look equally relieved and worried. 

Weiss is the first to come over, smacking Yang’s buff shoulder with every sentence. “You! Do not! Beat up! Your sister! What is  _ wrong  _ with you?!” Once she’s done hitting Yang, she rounds on Ruby. “And  _ you! _ ” 

“Eep!” Ruby hides behind Yang. 

“Don’t even think you can--” 

Sighing, Yang throws Weiss over her shoulder, ignoring the hits to her back. “Weiss,” she says loudly, “If I put you down, will you shut up and let me explain everything?” 

...”Very well,” Weiss seethes. The blonde sets her friend down...right behind Pyrrha as a buffer. “So, about that explanation.”

“Why exactly were you beating each other up?” Pyrrha asks. 

“ _ Technically _ , it wasn’t beating each other up,” Ruby points out. She darts around behind Yang’s back when Weiss growls. “I’m just saying!” 

Yang rolls her eyes. “Look, it’s a system that we developed back when we were younger,” she explains. “Dad and mom taught us martial arts--” 

“And your mom!” Ruby points out, 

“Sure, her too. But yeah, whenever one of us is upset, we do some sparring and work off the anger that way. And it’s been awhile since we really did this, and Ruby was  _ really  _ pent up.” 

“It wasn’t  _ that  _ bad.” 

“You didn’t finish your cookies,” Yang crosses her arms and looks over her shoulder. 

Blake clears her throat. “And you couldn’t talk this out because....?” 

“We  _ do  _ talk,” Yang defends. “C’mon, we’re not cavemen.” 

Pyrrha, Blake, and Weiss give dry looks to the sisters. The sisters chuckle weakly. 

“Aaaaaaaaaanyways,” the blonde continues. “It was totally safe, we’ve never seriously hurt each other before.” 

“No headshots, boob shots, or crotch shots, that’s our three rules!” Ruby, now standing next to her sister, gives a thumbs up. 

“Ruby, your sister is bleeding,” Pyrrha replies. 

Yang shrugs and wipes the blood from her mouth. “Eh, I’ll let her have that one. It’s the first time she’s done it, and I kinda gave her a black eye over the summer.” 

“Wait, you  _ what _ ?!” Weiss screeches. 

“Chillax, Weiss Cream. It’s a sibling thing, you guys wouldn’t understand.” 

“I am  _ literally  _ a middle child.”

“Maybe you just don’t have a Thing like me and Ruby do.” The sisters fist bump.

Weiss is about ready to throttle them both and bury them in the park when Pyrrha cuts in. “Yang, be nice. Weiss was worried that something was wrong between the two of you, we all were.”

The blonde sighs. “Yeah, okayyyyyy. I’m sorry we worried you guys.”

“Me, too,” Ruby apologizes. 

Blake smiles. “Apology accepted.” She and Pyrrha look at Weiss. 

The heiress groans. “Fine, I suppose I forgive you both as well.”

“Aw, I knew you couldn’t stay mad at me!” Yang smiles and punches Weiss’ shoulder. 

“OW.”

“Sorry!” Yang’s lips curl into a smirk. “Y’know, if any of you guys ever wanna go up against me one on one, I won’t say no.”

Simultaneously, all three girls eye Yang up and down. The blonde, seeing that she is clearly being checked out, winks. 

Blake and Weiss answer immediately. “Yeah, I think I’m good.” “You would literally kill me.”

Pyrrha rubs her chin in thought. “Hmmm, do you have a specific time you want to do this, or?” She looks at Blake and Weiss, who stare at her in worry. “....What?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So here’s the thing, there was a moment in early RWBY (I wanna say episode 3 or 4) where the sisters straight up scrap in front of Blake, albeit in a Cartoon way with the fight clouds. I always thought that was funny, and I get the feeling that they’re the type of siblings who communicate with words and actions, it just depends.
> 
> There’s some anime bullshit in here beyond the Naruto run, it won’t be hard to figure out. Ruby is the only other person I can see doing that move. 
> 
> Coming up next....who the hell knows!


	19. Holiday Hoedown

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> For most of our cast, their first semester of Beacon is officially over! And what better way to celebrate than with a party?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW for mentions of abuse.

_Previously on Real Housemates:_

_(Chapter 16): “Jaune asked Weiss out,” Nora says to Ren and Pyrrha. “It didn’t go well.”_

Well, shit, _Pyrrha thinks to herself,_ I guess I have a crush on Jaune Arc. 

  
  


_(Chapter 10): Adam smirks. “I would listen to your sister, Yang. Clearly, she got the brains in the family.”_

_Yang punches him. Quickly and before anyone can comprehend, her fist goes to his face and blood comes rushing out of his nose. The blonde barely has a moment to register that she actually did that before she feels a pair of hands grab her shoulder and push her away, far away from a swearing and enraged Adam._

* * *

**Holiday Hoedown**

**December, freshman year.**

**Blake**

A loud vibrating from her desk disrupts Blake’s meditation. Flipping over her phone, the 19-year-old sees a message from Sun that says: _u busy?_

Ignoring it, Blake puts her phone face down again and closes her eyes. She begins the process of emptying her mind again, to return to that weightless state—

_Bzzzz! Bzzzzz!_

Gold eyes open again and there’s a second message from Sun, followed quickly by a third. She could read them, but if she knows Sun, he’ll keep talking whether he receives attention or not. So she shuts her phone all the way off. Then she closes her eyes again and focuses, keying in on centering herself—

There’s a loud knock that interrupts her mediation. Sighing, she turns around and walks over to flip the latches of her window and push it up. “I have a door, you know,” she grumbles. 

A moment later, Sun comes through the window and into her room. He dusts some of the frost off his hideous red and green holiday sweater. “I could,” he concedes, “but we both know you’d just ignore me if I came the normal way.”

She can’t argue that. “Why are you here, Sun?”

“Harsh, B. How do you know I’m not here to wish you goodbye before my flight home?”

She raises an eyebrow. “Probably because your flight isn’t until tomorrow afternoon, like you’ve been telling me for the past week.”

“Dang, you’re good. And also correct. I’m here to, insert drumroll here...invite you to a party!” He gives her his best smile. “And I know what you’re gonna say,” he lowers his voice to mimic her, “I don’t do parties, Sun. Especially holiday parties, I got enough of those with my parents’ work ones.”

 _It’s a good impression_ , Blake admits to herself. Out loud, she says, “I don’t... think I’m up for a party, Sun. Not yet.” Maybe not ever, she almost wants to say. 

This’ll be her first holiday in years without Ilia or Adam in her life. As much as it hurt, she made the decision weeks ago to not go back to Menagerie with Sun. There were too many memories there that would break her. And her roommate, Bex, had left a few days ago to be with their partner, which meant she would be completely alone. 

The blonde reaches over and puts a hand on her shoulder. “I know it’s only been a couple of months,” he softly says, “but you’re allowed to enjoy things. We both are.” He reaches down and grabs her hand. 

“Sun...”

“Just for like an hour tops,” Sun pleads. “If you want to leave earlier, I’ll call an Uber or someone to pick you up. But I don’t want you to be completely alone, B.”

Blake exhales. Admittedly, Sun has his heart in the right place. As he often does. (Mostly.) “Okay,” she nods and smiles. “Okay. I’ll try to stay at least an hour.”

Sun’s mood changes like a light. “Yes! You won’t regret this, B! Oh wait!” He reaches into the pocket of his jeans. “Coco says that everyone who comes needs to wear at least one festive thing, sooooooooo I got you this!” He dramatically pulls out a red and green beanie.

She raises her eyebrows and sighs. “Seriously?”

“Well, I figure it would be the best thing for you since you, y’know. Bald.”

“Sun—“

“Or maybe ‘hair deficient,’ that’s a better term.” He reaches up to pat her head. “Mm, you’ve got a good buzz going.”

Blake smacks his hand away. She had shaved her head some weeks ago when her mental health wasn’t the best, getting rid of years worth of hair like it meant nothing to her. (Sun looked at her like she’d lost a limb, Bex had said she looked “punk as fuck.” Their comment was much more validating.)

Grinning, Sun hands her the beanie to wear. “Trust me, B. You’re gonna have fun tonight.”

* * *

**Pyrrha **

Pyrrha paces back and forth in her dorm. Back and forth, back and forth, back and forth. It’s a good thing Cinder isn’t here, because her roommate definitely would’ve glued her feet to the floor after about the twelfth time she’d gone from one end of the room to the other. 

The reason for Pyrrha’s worry is perhaps mundane. Like many others, she’d been invited to a party at the winter home (that’s a thing apparently?) of Coco Adel, a celebration for successfully making it through another year of hell. And Pyrrha found herself with things to actually celebrate this year. She’d made actual friends with people who liked her, for her: Nora Valkyrie, Lie Ren, and Jaune Arc. 

In lieu of carpooling with those three, Pyrrha had promised that she would meet up with them there. They’d given her a collective group hug and various reassurances that her presence there was wanted. And now, half an hour later, she wishes she had gone with them, because her anxiety had crept up on her. What if she made an idiot of herself? What if she spilled a drink on someone or said the wrong thing, or—

No. She couldn’t think like that. Instead, she recalled the words spoken to her during their group hug. 

_“One of us will be there right at the front door when you arrive.”_

_“It’s not your fault if you can’t make it. We can have our own party after.”_

_“We will do whatever we can to make you feel safe.”_

She repeats each sentiment in her head, over and over until she stops pacing. “I can do this,” she says out loud. “I can do this.” She walks over to her bed and puts on her shoes. 

Minutes later and wearing a light cyan jacket and headband for her ears, Pyrrha walks out of her dorm. Coco’s house is a 25 minute walk away. She could call a rideshare or one of her friends. Or....

She grins as a plan begins to form in her head. “I can do this.”

* * *

**Weiss & Yang**

Weiss turns to Yang and raises an eyebrow. “Okay seriously, how are you not freezing right now?”

The blonde, wearing her leather jacket over a gold tank top, shrugs. “Dunno what to tell you, I’ve always run warm. Better question is, how are _you_ cold? Doesn’t Atlas have like, really bad winters?”

Dressed in a light white coat with black lining, the heiress glowers at her friend. “I’m not a polar bear, you...lizard! I can still get cold.”

“You know lizards are cold-blooded, right?”

“Oh, shut up.” 

Yang snickers as the two walk up the hill to Coco’s home. Unlike the fashion major and sometimes model herself, the house isn’t terribly flashy. It’s a normal sized home with tan coloring and Christmas lights strung up along the front door and each window. As the pair make their ascent to the front door, each stair flashes a different holiday color: red, green, white, blue, and gold. 

“I can’t believe Coco has a winter home,” Yang muses. 

Weiss scoffs. “That’s not a thing. That’s just called having a home.”

“Then technically, we _all_ have winter homes, since we go back to our families right around now.” Yang knocks on the door twice and rings the bell. 

A moment later, the door swings open, revealing a dark skinned boy. “Welcome to Coco’s Holiday Hoedown,” he says dryly. His head is pointed downward, face kept obscure by his copper hair. “My name is Fox. I’m blind, so please describe to me what holiday appropriate attire you’re wearing.”

Weiss clears her throat. “I uh, am wearing a white tiara and a shirt that says ‘Slay, Belles’ on the chest.”

“Are you white?”

Weiss raises a finger and opens her mouth. Then she closes it and sighs dejectedly. “Yes,” she admits. 

He snorts. “That explains it.”

Yang grins and answers next. “I got a gold shirt and I paid some kid $20 to spray my prosthetic arm red and white.” After his nod of approval, she asks, “If you don’t mind me asking, what festive thing are _you_ wearing?”

Fox mutters something that sounds like a swear. He tilts his head up at the pair, quickly revealing the milky white of his eyes and a couple of scars on an otherwise handsome face, before two things happen. The first is that Fox juts his chest out, showing off a maroon sweater that says ‘All I Want...’

Second is that after he’s sure they’ve read the front, he turns around. The back of the sweater says ‘for the holidays.’ And then, the ass of his sweatpants light up to say ‘is you!’

And then the [Mariah Carey song](https://youtu.be/fRyhqobl0sk) plays. 

Both Weiss and Yang’s eyes go wide. “Oh my god,” Yang covers her mouth in shock. Weiss just laughs. Even when the song shuts off and they’re both being guided to a room to drop off their coats, arranged alphabetically by last name, she’s still laughing.

**Jaune & Pyrrha **

Yet again, Jaune checks his phone for any messages from Pyrrha and yet again, there is nothing. He’s about to walk over to Nora, who is crushing it at air hockey, and ask her if she got a text. But last time he did that, which _may_ have been two minutes ago, she told him to relax...and also to quit bugging her or his phone would be the hockey puck. 

Getting up, Jaune maneuvers past the throng of people to go outside in the backyard. He grabs a can of Sprite and walks onto the grass, past a dozen or so other students at the fire pit, sipping his drink before once again checking his phone. Nothing. It’s taking everything in his power not to send another text making sure everything was okay.

There’s the sound of a thud, followed by grumbling. Curious, Jaune flicks the flashlight of his phone on and walks toward the source of the noise, towards the fence. He walks over, slowly, until his light lands on—

“Pyrrha?” He brings his light up to double check and sure enough, it’s his athletic friend, currently shielding her eyes from his phone’s light. “Oh, sorry!”

He points his phone downward, and they both look at each other. “Um, hello,” Pyrrha waves. “I made it. As you can see.”

He tilts his head. “Why are you cutting through Coco’s neighbor’s backyard?”

“Oh! Uh, my Uber driver got the wrong address and he got very snippy, so. I just decided to run through some yards. Like one does.”

The silence between them both is thick before Jaune laughs. “That’s weird, you know that? Even for a robot like you.”

She chuckles as she continues to wipe herself off. “Guess I’ve just got different programming than all the other bots. Beep boop.” They both start walking back to the house. 

Once they’re in the house, and make sure that Nora and Ren see their friend has arrived, Jaune leads Pyrrha upstairs. “We gotta get you to warm up with some cocoa,” he says. It’s a little bit of a maze getting there, with various pockets of people conversing in different parts of the house from the stairs to the kitchen, but they get there. 

“You don’t have to do this,” Pyrrha reminds him as he slides a cup over to her. 

“Well yeah, but I want to,” he says. He clinks their cups together, even going so far as to say it, before taking a hearty sip. After a moment, she joins him.

At that moment, Yang and Weiss walk in. “Oh, hey guys,” Yang greets, wrapping them both in a quick hug. “Happy holidays!”

“Happy holidays.” “Hey, Yang.”

Jaune briefly looks over to Weiss and simply nods, which she returns. Weiss goes over to Pyrrha and also gives her a hug. 

“Did you just get here?” Weiss asks. 

“She must have. But it wasn’t through the front door, because she _certainly_ wouldn’t have been allowed in otherwise.”

The response comes from Coco Adel, walking into the kitchen and sporting a green beret. “Pyrrha Nikos. Coco Adel, lovely to meet you. Wanna tell me where your festive clothes are?”

Pyrrha chuckles weakly. “I may have forgotten about that before I got here.”

“Mmm. Listen, Nikos, I like you. You’re a hell of an athlete and a hell of a looker,” she winks, “but I _did_ make a rule. So, unless you’ve got something you can wear right this second that fits the theme...” Coco jerks a thumb behind her. 

Seeing this, Jaune smacks his forehead. “Oh, sorry Coco, I forgot to tell Velvet earlier that I was holding this for Pyrrha! I’m such a ditz.” He grabs the hem of his hoodie and takes it off. “See, she asked me to wear this and give it to her when she came in, since she got this holiday edition Pumpkin Pete hoodie as part of the deal for her sponsored posts. Isn’t that right, Pyr?” Blue eyes go to green, silently saying two words: _Play along._

Stunned, Pyrrha just nods, her eyes glued on Jaune’s new attire. Underneath his hoodie turns out to be a t-shirt that says ‘Felix Navidad!’, with crude drawings of presumably the Arc family underneath. 

Coco’s eyes drift downward to the shirt, and her lips turn up into a smirk. “Looks like you’ve got a hero, Nikos. You both can stay.” She gives Pyrrha another wink before walking off.

“I cannot believe that worked.” Jaune sounds proud of himself.

Heat crawls up Pyrrha’s face as she quickly gets the hoodie on her. “You _really_ didn’t have to do that.”

“Course I did,” he smiles. “If I hadn’t, she would’ve kicked you out, and it would’ve sucked if you weren’t here.”

Her face becomes even redder. 

Unbeknownst to them both, Yang and Weiss have remained in the kitchen, watching everything. While Weiss snickers at Jaune’s shirt (“Felix Navidad, good one.”), Yang’s eyes flicker to Pyrrha’s red face. Then Jaune’s smile. Then the hoodie. Then Pyrrha’s red face. 

And then her eyes get wide. 

“No way.” Yang says in awe. She nearly drops her plastic cup. “No freaking way. Oh, my god. Pyrrha!!! _Really?_ ”

That catches the three’s attention. Yang grins and then leans over to Weiss, whispering something in her ear. Weiss’ eyes go wide as she looks at Pyrrha and briefly at Jaune. 

“No,” Weiss replies, seemingly at Pyrrha. “Really?”

“Yep.” 

“ _No.”_

“ _Yes,”_ Yang affirms again before cackling. She walks past Pyrrha and pats her on the shoulder, laughing to herself as she walks off.

“I....I’m gonna go,” Weiss says, giving them both a Look before walking off. 

Jaune quirks an eyebrow. “What the heck was that about?”

Pyrrha’s face becomes redder than her hair.

**Blake**

It’s been about 25 minutes since Blake first arrived at the party, and things were going admittedly not terrible. 

Granted, some of that may be because she’s spent most of her time here crouched in the space underneath the stairs of the den. (Sun would’ve noticed her absence, but last she checked, he was high and playing Cards Against Humanity.) The crawl space means she alternates between watching various games of air hockey and angling herself to watch the video game tournament taking place closer to the stairs. The darkness is her friend and no one has managed to spot her weird form of people watching, so it’s a win-win. 

Right now, she’s focused on the new game of air hockey; it was always more of Sun and Ilia’s thing, but the two redheads playing are _really_ good and both know it. They’re on their fourth win, cheered on by a dark haired boy with a pink stripe in, a blonde boy wearing a shirt with a stupid pun, and a blonde girl who looks somewhat familiar. She can’t put her finger on it. 

Eventually, Blake feels the need to grab more food and slowly inches out of the crawl space, doing her best to not draw attention. But that doesn’t happen, because right as she gets to her feet, there’s a yelp of surprise next to her, courtesy of a white-haired girl. She’s about to offer an apology, but she finds herself staring at this girl; And then she looks the girl up and down; unlike the blonde, Blake recognizes this one instantly. “Weiss Schnee?”

Still perturbed, Weiss nods. “Um, I’m sorry, but. Why were you underneath the stairs? And also, have we met?”

They haven’t, but Blake knows all about the Schnees, something of a sensitive topic amongst the band. During the band’s life, Jacques Schnee had spent his time on air condemning the band, espousing repeatedly that they were the death of “real music” and “a sign of the decline of the American youth.” Sun thought it was hilarious. Ilia thought he was full of himself. Blake gave as much weight to his words as she did her mother’s political opponents, which was nothing. 

Adam very vocally _hated_ the Schnee News Network. 

“We’ve never met, but I’ve heard,” Blake hesitates. “So much about you. Just. In general. Through people.” _Keep it cool, Blake, reel it in._

“Uh-huh. And why were you underneath the stairs?”

“I was just looking for my phone! Which I dropped. Underneath the stairs.”

They both make eye contact with each other. Because they both know that is a lie. Instead of calling her on it, Weiss simply says, “Alright, then.” After a moment, she says, “I’m Weiss. But, you already knew that.”

“I’m...Arryn,” Blake settles on. “It’s nice to—“

Like the chaotic force that he is, Sun freaking Wukong arrives at that exact moment, rushing down the stairs and over to the air hockey table. “Have you guys seen my friend? She’s about uhhhhhh this tall, and kinda like, brown-er than me? She’s bald but she’s got some fuzz on her head and her name’s Blake and she’s kinda quiet and has this hot goth thing going on—“

That pink-striped boy from before puts his hand over Sun’s mouth, then spins his head around in Blake’s direction. Sun licks the boy’s hand and then walks over to her and wraps her in a hug. “Where have you been?! Were you doing your creepy people watching from the stairs again?” 

Blake doesn’t answer. She’s too busy looking at the various people at this hockey table; some are looking at her with amusement, others with secondhand embarrassment or confusion. (The blonde girl looks at her like something’s clicked in her mind.) Blake turns to Weiss, and there’s something like annoyance on her face. 

“So,” Weiss drawls. “Nice to meet you, ‘Arryn.’”

Blake chuckles weakly.

**Yang**

_Holy shit, it’s her,_ Yang thinks. As soon as Sun (loudly) pointed Blake out, the memories of that day came rushing to the forefront of her mind. Absently, she grabs someone’s wrist and drags them with her up the stairs, ignoring their protests. When they’re finally away from enough people, she spins around and realizes she took Ren basically hostage. 

“Rude,” he grumbles as he rubs his wrist. She checks his eyes and yep, he’s still high. _Should’ve grabbed Pyrrha instead._

“Dude,” Yang hisses. “Do you know who that was down there?” When he shrugs, she whispers, “Blake Belladonna! From that band!”

“The White Fang? Oh right, Sun was in that. I think you mentioned them once or twice, no?”

“I met them with Ruby before we graduated!”

“Oh, that must’ve been nice.” Ren smiles. 

Yang rolls her eyes. “Ren, I punched their lead singer in the face.”

“Oh, so it wasn’t nice.”

“No, it wasn’t. And Blake was his girlfriend, and then a couple weeks later, he freaking died!”

Ren shrugs. “And what does that have to do with you?”

Yang looks at him like he just grew a second head. “Didn’t you hear me? I punched. Her boyfriend. In the face. Before he died.”

“Right, but I don’t see the issue here. You’re friends with Sun, and he doesn’t seem to have any ill will towards you. So why would she? It’s not like your punch killed him.” There’s a moment before he asks, “Wait. Your punches can’t kill people, right?” He takes a step back. 

She ignores him. “I just. What if it’s awkward? Sun may not have told her about us being friends.”

“I think you’re overthinking it. Just talk to her like a normal person, and if it actually comes up, talk about it.”

“Yeah. Yeah, okay, you’re right. Thanks, Ren. You always know what to say. You’re like a wise, blazed Yoda.”

“Do, or not, my friend,” he intones wisely. “There is no try. But also, I wanna try and see if you can punch people so hard they die.”

“Ren, no.”

“Ren, _yes._ ”

* * *

**Sun**

Let it be said that Sun is not into being slapped. 

He knows this because Blake slapped his face almost right after dragging him outside. 

“I! Cannot! Believe you!” Blake seethes, combat boots thudding as she paces back and forth. “That was completely embarrassing!” 

Sun scratches the back of his head. “Okay, so maybe I didn’t go about that the right way.”

“Really? I wonder what gave you that impression.”

“In my defense, I hadn’t seen you in awhile, and I was worried!”

“So then why didn’t you use your _phone,_ Sun.”

He smacks his forehead. “Oh, _riiiiiiight!_ Duh! I have a phone! Hey, c’mon,” he says when she turns away from him. “Don’t be embarrassed! Those guys back there are cool, they’re my friends!”

She looks at him over her shoulder. “All of them? Even Weiss?”

“Welllllll, we’re maybe not ‘friends’ per se, but we’ve got a Gen Ed together. She’s warming up to me, I can tell.” (Even _that_ may be generous, depending on Weiss’ mood and his love of dicking around, but Blake doesn’t need to know that.)

“Don’t you remember those things her family said about us after the band broke up? About the crash? About...” She hesitates, but they both know who she was about to mention.

“I know. And I wasn’t too keen on her at first, and now she’s. I dunno if ‘nice’ is the right word, but I think she’s trying to show that she’s not as bad as her dad.”

“Tch. That’s a low bar to clear.”

Sun sighs. It didn’t cross his mind that Weiss would even be here or that the two could end up meeting. If it did, he absolutely would’ve stayed sober and tried to keep them out of each other’s proximity. Before he can say anything, the screen door opens, and his friends all walk out. 

Seeing his confusion, Pyrrha stops. “We’re going to the pit, if you two wanna join. Also, hi, Blake. I’m Pyrrha. It’s, uh, nice to meet you.”

Blake gives a small smile. “You, too.”

When Pyrrha leaves, he gives his full attention back to her. “At least give them a chance, ‘k?”

“Sun...”

“All of them. Please?” He offers his hand. She sighs and takes it, and the two head to the fire pit. 

* * *

**Weiss. **

_“So,” Weiss drawls. “Nice to meet you, ‘Arryn.’”_

Blake chuckles weakly. “Well, you see. The thing about that is....”

Weiss raises an eyebrow, ready for whatever excuse or lie Blake gives her. But none comes, because Blake just grabs Sun’s wrist and walks outside to the backyard. (“Bye, guys!” Sun waves.)

“That was weird, right?” Nora pipes up. 

Pyrrha and Jaune nod. “Oh, yeah.” “Definitely weird.” 

Weiss scoffs and looks to her friends. “Leave it to Sun to—what happened to Yang and Ren?” The other three turn their heads and yep, they are definitely short one blonde and one Ren. 

Nora scratches her head. “How did none of us notice that when we’re all sober?”

Weiss doesn’t indulge her with an answer, too focused on whatever conversation is likely happening between Blake and Sun. She wasn’t too proud to admit that she had listened to several songs from the White Fang. Despite her father’s repeated insistence that they were “trash,” she found some of their tracks enjoyable. “Mirror, Mirror” was definitely in her top songs of the year through most of high school.

It was towards the end of their life where she fell off with the band. The songs became more cynical, more angry; it felt like someone had hijacked the band and used them to air out their daddy issues. It didn’t feel like a stretch to say it was because of the prominence of their frontman, Adam Taurus, a man who apparently had an anger problem and a massive ego. When he died, Weiss couldn’t find herself to be sad about him or the band’s untimely end. 

It takes everything in her power to not go over to the screen door and watch Sun and Blake’s conversation. She desperately wants to know why the two are so different after the band’s end; why Sun has been nothing but smiles and laughter since the day she met while Blake outright lied about who she was. 

“Weiss?” Pyrrha snaps her fingers in front of the heiress’ face. “You hear me?”

Shaken out of her stupor, Weiss turns to Pyrrha. “I’m sorry, what?”

“I said, looks like the fire pit’s empty. We were gonna head out there, you coming?”

Weiss nods and follows Pyrrha outside. It’s still cold, but it’s a short trek to the pit, which flares up again when Nora drops some more firewood in. The heiress finds herself next to a surprisingly quiet Yang and across from Pyrrha, who has somehow found herself shoulder to shoulder with Jaune, who sits comfortably next to Ren. With Nora on Yang’s other side, they form a nice mostly complete circle. 

Nora rubs her chin. “Blake Belladonna. Why do I know that name?”

“Probably because her mother Kali Belladonna is the governor of Menagerie,” Weiss answers. “Or wait, maybe it’s because she and Sun were in The White Fang. You know, that band where their lead singer died back in May.”

“Jesus, News Princess,” Yang mutters. “Don’t pull any punches just like your dad, huh?”

“First of all, it was national news, and not even that long ago, so of course I remember. And second of all, you know I hate that nickname. I am _not_ a news princess.”

“It’s heiress, actually.” The remark comes an arriving Blake walking over, with her hand in Sun’s. “What are we talking about?” She raises an eyebrow in Weiss’ direction almost like she _knows._

“Nothing!” Pyrrha lies. “Please, have a seat.” Nora pats the empty space next to her. 

“Man, this is nice,” Sun beams as they sit down. At some point, he took off his sweater and gave it to Blake, leaving him bare chested. “Is it weird that I love the winter?”

“It’s more weird that you’re shirtless in the middle of December,” Ren says. “How are you not cold?” 

The blonde shrugs. “I run warm, man. It’s a Vacuo thing.”

Yang perks up. “Heyyyyyyy, I run warm too!” They both air five. 

“Menagerie doesn’t really get cold, just chilly. The last few weeks have definitely been a culture shock,” Blake shivers. 

“Glad to see you’ve joined us, Blake,” Weiss greets. “Or is it Arryn? Apparently, I met two different people tonight.” Out of the corner of her eye, she sees Yang give her a look that she promptly ignores. 

“Heh. Yeah...sorry about that. It is Blake, though. Honest.”

“Honest. Sure.” Weiss gives a hum of acknowledgment. Everyone else gives their name one by one. 

“Pyrrha! Again.” “Hey, my name’s Jaune.” “Nice to meet ya! I’m Nora.” “Lie Ren.” “Yang.”

“So do you go to Beacon, too?” Nora asks. “I don’t think any of us have seen you around campus.”

“That’s because I take all online classes,” Blake admits. “It’s for the best, since I’m not always the best at being social.”

Weiss snorts. “Yeah, no kidding,” she mutters. She’s fairly certain Blake heard _that,_ if the glance in her direction is any indication. 

“Must be nice,” Jaune says. “You could do all your classes in your pajamas and no one would know.”

“He actually did that.” Ren points to the shirtless blond. “One day he showed up in those pants with—“

“The monkeys on them,” say Blake, Sun, and Weiss. 

Blake chuckles. “I can’t believe you still have those.”

“They were a gift! From a fan,” Sun defends. “I love gifts from fans.”

“You’re not the only one,” Nora chimes in a sing-song voice, jerking a thumb at Pyrrha. Only she and Yang laugh at the joke. Pyrrha just pulls the hood over her head. “I think Jaune’s had that since we first met him back when we were juniors.”

“Longer than that,” the blond proudly says. “Wear it almost every day.” (He does not notice Pyrrha’s face turning scarlet at the admission, but Weiss does, and she almost cackles.)

“Good thing he had it ready to give to you, huh, Pyrrha?” Yang teases before addressing Sun and Blake. “Pyrrha here apparently snuck in through the backyard because she didn’t have anything festive to wear.”

“I didn’t sneak in,” Pyrrha says. “I just got confused!”

“So why didn’t you just come to the front of the house?” asks Ren. 

The athlete looks away and mumbles something. 

“What?”

“I _said_ ,” Pyrrha speaks up, “I slipped off the roof of the house behind here and hopped the fence before the dog could show up.”

That takes everyone by surprise, but Weiss is the only one to vocalize what everyone is thinking: “What do you mean, you slipped off the roof?”

“I didn’t take an Uber here like I told Jaune. I got here by doing parkour. I didn’t want to be later to the party than I already was, so I just hopped from rooftop to rooftop until I wound up in that backyard over there.” Pyrrha points behind Yang. “So. Yeah.”

No one says anything for a moment. Because how even do you respond to such a bizarre admission like that? Weiss certainly finds herself at a loss for words as she tries to imagine Pyrrha just jumping between houses like some sort of superhero, which admittedly, she sort of is. 

“Huh.” Yang nods. “That’s honestly not what I’d expected.”

“Metal as hell,” Nora stage whispers. “Respect."

Jaune snorts and shakes his head. “That is so weird, but so you.”

“That is _so_ freaking cool,” Sun beams. “I didn’t know you could do that in the snow!”

Pyrrha shrugs. “I used to do it back home when it snowed. It’s sort of easy once you get the hang of it.”

“Can you teach me? I’ve never done that before! Blake, you wanna get in on this?” He gets to his feet, excited...

Right before Blake grabs his hand and yanks him back down. “Yeah, I think you’re on your own there.”

Weiss snorts. “I bet Adam would’ve joined,” she says. 

Blake glares at her. “Excuse me?” 

“Oh, nothing. Just a funny thought, is all.”

“Consider sharing?” Blake sits up straight. 

“Parkour can be dangerous. And it sounds like from all accounts, Adam was something of a thrill seeker.” 

(“Ah, shit,” Sun mutters.)

“Don’t pretend like you knew him,” Blake snaps. “He wasn’t anything to you but something for your dad to complain about.”

Weiss shrugs. “I think we both know the things my father said about him weren’t entirely off the mark.”

“Don’t be mean, Weiss,” Nora adds. “The guy’s dead.”

Weiss scoffs. “He also put five people in the hospital.” She gestures to Blake and Sun. “Two of whom are right here.” 

“You don’t know what you’re talking about,” Blake shoots back. 

“Mmmm, I think I _do,_ though. He assaulted two people back in April—“

“Allegedly,” Blake stresses. Though she doesn’t sound like she believes it.

(By this point, Jaune, Ren, Nora, and Pyrrha have left, fully aware that this is about to get ugly.)

“ _Two. People,”_ Weiss stresses. “One of whom may have permanent memory problems. He built himself up as an alpha male. And like any alpha male twit, he died like an _idiot,_ and nearly took you three with him.”

“Is this really the kind of person you are?” Blake sneers. “You came to Beacon when you could’ve learned to be heartless just by hanging around your father?”

Weiss’ eyes narrow. “I am nothing like my father.”

“If it looks like a Schnee, and it talks like a Schnee...”

“That’s rich, coming from the girl who can’t see her ex was garbage.”

Blake jumps to her feet. “Watch. Your mouth.”

Weiss stands up and stares directly at Blake. “Or what, you’ll go into another coma?!”

 **“Weiss!”** Sun barks out. His gaze is hard in a way that she has never seen before. And when her gaze goes to Blake, the girl’s golden eyes are brimmed with tears. 

“Guess Sun was wrong,” Blake gives a shaky chuckle. “You’re not as bad as your father. You’re so much worse.” And she walks away. 

Sun shakes his head. “I told her you were trying to be better.” He runs after his friend, calling her name. 

Weiss turns to Yang, who has stayed silent this whole time. The blonde stands up slowly, keeping eye contact with Weiss. “Why?”

And then she leaves. 

* * *

**Yang.**

Yang usually isn’t a drinker, but she finds herself taking multiple shots over the next 10 minutes, hoping that she’ll get drunk. But damn her genes, she cannot. (This is why she doesn’t drink and is usually the designated driver.)

After the shots and trying to distract herself with video games (nope) and air hockey with JNPR (also doesn’t work), she finds herself going upstairs to the front porch. Her plan is just to look up at the moon, see if that provides any answers. But then she takes two steps outside and finds that Blake already had the same idea, sitting on the lawn with her knees to her face. 

“Hey,” Yang greets softly. She sits down in the grass to this...friend? Acquaintance? She doesn’t know what to call them after this disaster of a night.

Blake’s definitely been crying, and wipes at her eyes to hide it. “Sun called us a ride,” she explains. “He just went to the bathroom.”

“You’re leaving.”

“Yeah. Tonight got pre-tty shitty.” She turns to Yang and wrinkles her nose. “So, is this the part where you say Weiss isn’t really like that?”

“Nah. What she did was straight up shitty.” Given Yang’s brief experience with the guy, it also wasn’t inaccurate, but Blake didn’t need to hear that. 

“Probably should’ve expected this, since it was my first time going out in months.” Seeing the blonde’s surprised face, she corrects, “To a party, I mean. I do go out, just mostly for groceries or work.”

“If it’s alright to ask, where do you work?”

“Nowhere special, just a bookstore.”

“Oh, that’s cool! How are they?”

Blake raises an eyebrow. “They, as in the books?”

...”Yes.”

She snorts. “The books are fine, Yang. They’re dressed all nice and tucked into the shelves, sleeping the evening away.”

“Well, that’s good. Every book deserves to be covered at night.”

Blake rolls her eyes so hard they could’ve popped out of her head. “That’s not funny.”

“I dunno,” Yang teases, “I think you were gonna laugh.”

“You’re delusional. Clearly, Sun’s a bad influence.” 

“Hey, don’t give him credit for my joke! That’s a certified Yang Xiao Long original.” 

The silence between them settles in again. Yang’s about to try and steer the conversation towards something else, maybe about Menagerie, but Blake speaks first. “We’ve met before, haven’t we. When Sun found me, I saw your face, but it wasn’t like the others. You looked like you knew me.”

 _Crap_. “Yeah, uh, we met. Earlier this year, before, y’know. My sister and I came to the mall to see you.”

Realization dawns on Blake’s face. “That’s right. Your sister, she gave us granola bars. And then we all took a selfie, didn’t we?”

“We did. And then....yeah.” Yang mimes punching herself in the face. 

The musician frowns. “I know it’s too late to say this, but I’m sorry that happened to you and your sister.”

“I’m sorry you all had to deal with the aftermath. It couldn’t have been easy.”

“It wasn’t.” She sniffles. “You two weren’t the only ones that day, you know? He got snippy with some fans before you, and I just tried to excuse it as him being tired and cranky. When he put those two men in the hospital, I told myself it was self defense gone too far.”

“Blake...”

“I didn’t want to believe he was bad. I told myself that everyone was wrong about him, that they didn’t get him, but _I_ did. But now I have to think back to all our time together.” Something like a bitter laugh comes out of her mouth. “Weiss was right. There were things that I ignored because I loved him, and it cost me everything. My best friend left me, and it probably won’t be long before Sun does the same.”

“You think he’ll leave?” Yang questions. It’s hard of her to think, based on what she knows of him and what she’s seen between him and Blake tonight. 

“If he doesn’t, I will,” snaps Blake. “I cut myself off from my parents, and I’ll do the same to him if I have to. I don’t want anyone else getting hurt because of me.”

 _But_ you’ll _still be hurt,_ Yang thinks. There is no reason for her to be this invested in Blake, someone she’s tangentially connected to. There’s a part of her that wants to find some way to back out of this, as she’s just unequipped for this conversation. 

But Yang is also a fighter, and sometimes that means approaching an opponent from a different angle. _There’s a way around as well,_ her dad would say during their sparring. “He definitely didn’t tell you this, but Sun came over to my house once.”

Blake raises an eyebrow. “Is this _really_ the time for a story?”

“It’s going somewhere, promise. I invited him and Jaune over for a...thing, and after dinner he reintroduced himself to my sister. And then he apologized for what happened. He said what happened with us and with Adam made him want a fresh start. It sounds like you could use one, too.”

“You don’t get it,” Blake argues. “I can’t just start over and pretend the last 8 months never happened.”

“I’m not saying ignore it,” Yang corrects. “I’m saying to learn to live with what happened and not let it define you. Dunno if you noticed, but that’s kiiiiiiind of a thing people do when the new year starts.” She grins before turning serious again. “But it has to be something you want.”

The door behind them opens, and Sun walks out, still shirtless and still not fazed. He looks between them both, visibly nervous. “Everything alright...?”

Blake looks at Yang, then shrugs before standing up. “Yeah, we’re fine. I think our ride’s almost here.”

“Sweeeeeet.” He looks at Yang. “I, um. Yeah.”

Yang nods. “Yeah. Don’t worry, I’ll talk to her.” She gets up and gives him a hug. “Be safe, Monkey Boy. I need you to spot me during our gym sessions next semester.”

“No promises. Also, we’re totally doing parkour with Pyrrha when we get back.” 

They break apart, and Yang looks to Blake. “I mean it. It can’t be that hard, especially if _Sun_ did it.”

“Exactly. Wait, what?”

Blake rolls her eyes at him and says to Yang, “I’ll think about it. Thanks for listening.”

“No prob,” Yang smiles. “S’what you do when you’re a big sister.”

“Heh. Then your sister’s pretty lucky. Bye, Yang.”

“Bye, Blake.” Yang gives a two-fingered salute as they walk away towards the car. She watches them drive off and sighs. “Yep. Still reaaaaaaaally hot,” she mutters. 

“Oh, there you are!”

The door opens again and out comes Weiss, flanked by JNPR. “We were looking everywhere for you,” Nora pokes Yang in the chest. “Well. Everywhere downstairs. Probably could’ve saved a lot of time if we checked more than one floor.”

“ _I_ said that,” Weiss replies dryly. “Multiple times.”

“We were about to leave,” Ren says, “but we weren’t sure if you were taking Weiss...?”

Yang’s eyes go to the heiress. Weiss looks nervous, like she’s prepared to carpool with them, but the blonde just shrugs. “I’m ready to go if you are.”

The tension very visibly leaves everyone’s shoulders. Goodbyes and hugs are exchanged, as are glances that aren’t nearly as subtle as they think. Weiss and Yang go one way towards the latter’s car, and JNPR goes another. 

Yang doesn’t actually start the car when they both get in. They just sit in total silence for about two minutes before one of them speaks. 

“I went too far,” Weiss admits. “I know that.”

Yang nods, keeping her eyes straight focused on the darkness ahead of her. “Yep.”

“You don’t know why, though.”

She looks at Weiss’ left side from the corner of her eye. Just long enough. “Nope.” 

“...Do you want to?” 

“Not really,” Yang replies after a short silence. “I’m not the one who needs to hear it.”

And she starts the car. 

* * *

**Blake & Sun **

_(“How much of that did you hear?” Blake asks as they walk towards their ride._

_Sun doesn’t bother lying. “Heard enough.” He shrugs and opens the door for her. “I’m not gonna leave you, B. Not now, not ever. You can make your own choices, but you don’t get to make_ mine _.” Once she’s in, he follows suit, then slams the door shut.)_

Somehow, against all odds, Sun is still hungry when they get to her apartment and upon entering, went for her fridge to put a pizza in the oven. 

“Y’know, I’ve said time and time again that no pizza will ever beat Vacuo’s. But this?” Sun points to the fresh cheese pizza he just sliced up. “This is pretty close.”

Blake simply rolls her eyes. “You really think that Tombstone pizza, that you can get from any grocery store, is as good as the pizza from your home city?”

“Uh, yeah, why else would I say it?” He grins and takes a pair of large slices for himself. Then he grabs another two slices and puts them on a plate for Blake. 

“Clearly, you’ve forgotten about Mikey’s in Menagerie on 43rd. So we’ll have to go there sometime over break.”

“Sure, you bet.” It takes a full 30 seconds before he realizes what she just said. “Wait, did you say—?”

She smirks. “Yeah, I was wondering when you’d catch that.” 

“What happened to staying here in town?”

“Yang said that you talked about having a fresh start here at Beacon. And it seems like it helped you a lot. I think...I _know_ I want that,” she admits. “But I can’t have it if I don’t confront some things first.” She puffs her cheeks out. “It is probably not gonna be easy going home, is it.”

“Probably not,” Sun shrugs. “Good thing you’ll have me there, huh?” He winks. “Guess we’re gonna have our very own journey to the west.”

For the first time in months, Blake laughs. 

“Wait, no, Menagerie is east, _shit_!”

**Jaune, Nora, Pyrrha, & Ren**

Pyrrha asks, “Are you guys sure it’s fine that I sleep over? You probably want to get out early tomorrow morning to avoid traffic, right?” The athlete graciously takes the cup of hot cocoa given to her by Jaune. 

“Psssssssh,” Nora scoffs next to her, “it’s no problem, Pyr. We like having you around!” 

“Plus, we weren’t gonna let you do that cool ninja robot stuff back home,” Jaune adds. He sets his cup on the table and kneels on the floor. 

“Also that.”

“Plus, plus,” Ren chimes from the hallway, “we had to give you this before your flight tomorrow.” He comes around the corner with a nicely wrapped gift in his hands. The label reads: ‘To Pyrrha, from JPR!’

“Open it!” Nora chants. “Oh-pen it! Oh-pen it!” Ren and Jaune soon join in. 

“Alright, alright!” Pyrrha laughs. She quickly finds the taped sections and tears the wrapping off. Inside are four things. The first is a plush version of her in her basketball uniform, with wide eyes and a mouth just as wide. Second is a framed black and white photo of Nora, which is autographed. Under that photo, a book on robot repair. 

The final gift is another framed photo, this one of the four of them in their Halloween costumes during trivia night at the bar. 

“Wow,” Pyrrha laughs, then wipes at the tears threatening to leave her eyes. “You got creative. I wonder who got me what."

"Actually, we all decided to mix things up," Nora declares. "Jaune did the plushie, I did the robot book, and Ren did the headshot."

"I have so many of these. I went overboard at Kinko's," Ren states.

That gets Pyrrha to laugh, and then the laughter just turns to straight up bawling. And then she feels three bodies wrapped around her and she cries harder. 

At some point, she’s not sure when, she stops crying long enough to ask, “But are you _sure_ you’re fine with me—“

The three of them respond emphatically: _“YES.”_

**Weiss.**

Her flight is in four hours and she feels like crap after last night, but dammit, Weiss is gonna do this. It took multiple messages and repeated promises that no, she wasn’t going to start anything, but Sun relented and gave her Blake’s address with one warning:

_You better make it count._

_And make it count, I will,_ she thinks as she knocks on the door. She practiced at home last night before bed and several times in the morning. She practiced on the drive over. She can do this. She can do this. She can—

“Oh, what the hell is _this_?” Weiss groans. She’d expected Blake to answer the door, not a shirtless Sun munching on a waffle. (Is it even warm? No, focus!) She inhales, then exhales. “Sun, may I please come in?”

“I was serious,” he warns before letting her in. “Make it count.” Once she’s inside and the door is shut, he walks into a room he can only assume is Blake’s and shuts that door. Leaving the two of them alone. 

_You can do this,_ Weiss thinks as she sits on the sofa. _Just like you rehearsed._ “I’m sorry. Last night was the first time we met, and I made remarks that were insensitive. About you and your friends. About people I mostly haven’t even met.”

“Usually when people apologize, they excuse what they said by claiming wasn’t who they are. But,” Weiss shakes her head, “that’s not true. That _is_ me, and I can’t say otherwise. It’s like you said: I’m a Schnee, and we’re heartless.” She lets that statement hang in the air.

“I’m sorry, too.” Blake replies. “The things you said last night weren’t as untrue as I would’ve liked. And I think I knew that deep down.” 

Weiss feels like an enormous weight has been lifted off her back. “Still. The way I said those things could’ve been done with a little more tact.”

“Only a little?” Blake quips. 

“Alright fine, a _lot_ more. So, where does this leave the two of us?”

“A simple apology won’t make up for what you and your family said, Weiss,” Blake says. “Your father called him a ticking time bomb. And he said the three of us were just ‘shrapnel.’”

Weiss looks away, ashamed. “I know. And I won’t try to justify or excuse my father’s words. I’m apologizing for me and me alone.”

“And how do I know you mean it?”

“You don’t,” the heiress admits. “I came here to Beacon telling myself I didn’t want to be like my father. Which didn’t work out,”

“Clearly,” Blake comments,

“I crossed a line. And I don’t intend on crossing it again. Unlike my father,” One of her hands goes up to the scar on her eye. “I’m aware of where such lines are.”

(She doesn’t see it, but Blake’s expression shifts to interest.)

Weiss realizes what her hand is doing and puts it back down. “I’ve said too much. I don’t mean to take up any more of your time.” She gets up and dusts her jeans off and heads toward the door. “I mean it, Blake. I am sorry. For everything. As much I loathe saying this, I want to prove Sun right. I want to try and be better.”

She’s about halfway out when Blake calls her name. “Weiss?”

The heiress looks over her shoulder. Blake gives a short nod and says, “Have a good holiday.”

Weiss gives a small smile and nods back. “You too, Blake. And tell Sun I wish him a good holiday as well.” 

And she shuts the door. 

* * *

_Over the next several hours, eight students of Beacon University leave their school—two musicians, a fighter, a photographer, an actor, a writer, an athlete, and an heiress. Four take planes, four drive, all at different points in the day._

_The fighter leaves in her yellow and black car. When she makes it home, she’s greeted with hugs from her sister and mother, forehead kisses from her father and uncle, and a firm handshake from her mom. (Plus scritches that go to her dog.)_

_The actor, the writer, and the photographer drive the athlete to the airport. They wait with her until her flight is called, giving her strong hugs—well, strong for them, since she outclasses them all in that department—and promises of chatting every day. The actor, when the writer and the photographer are out of earshot, winks and tells the athlete to shoot her shot when they reunite next semester._

_The athlete’s face turns red. When she arrives in Argus, she goes to her brother’s home. Her mother is away on business, and her father is both unavailable and unwanted._

_The musicians nearly miss their flight, but make it home to Menagerie. Before he heads home to his cousin, the drummer goes with the pianist to her house. Tearful hugs are exchanged, including one for the drummer, courtesy of the pianist’s father. (“I like you,” the father says, quickly giving the drummer a hug before their relationship returns to normal.)_

_Dropped off by the actor and the photographer, the writer comes home just in time for his mother’s annual holiday lasagna. He doesn’t mind that his younger sisters will definitely try to braid his hair later, he’s just glad to be home._

_Living next door to one another, the actor and the photographer go to the former’s house to quickly catch up with her grandmother. Then they go right next door and chat with the photographer’s parents, asking about headshots and potential locations to take pictures during this wintry time._

_The heiress is greeted at the Atlas airport by her family butler, in some ways more of a father than her real one. As much as she dreads being home with this family for several weeks, she will endure, as she always does. And she will observe her father, in the hopes of learning what it really means to be better._

_On January 1st, in two different states, the heiress and the pianist watch the ball drop. For both of them, they hope that this new year will bring what they equally need: a fresh start._

_Two weeks later, eight students from Beacon University make their way back to school. But this time, the fighter has someone joining her on her trip back._

_The artist._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thiiiiiiiiiiiiiiis one was a doozy to do. I've had the rough idea of a Christmas/holiday chapter for months, but figuring out what everyone would do was harder to crack. (Case in point: I was originally gonna have a side plot where Ren kept winding up under mistletoe but cut it since it wasn't adding anything.) Likewise, after talking it over with a friend, I felt like JNPR had to dip out of Blake and Weiss' confrontation because there wasn't any reason for them to BE involved. 
> 
> Yes, Pyrrha does parkour, because of course she does. She's a hypercompetent athlete and even if she wasn't, someone in this stupid story was gonna do it eventually.
> 
> I hope y'all like the dynamic Blake has with Sun, Weiss. Sun was the easiest, it writes itself. It took more time to think about what beef she and Weiss would have. (mmmmm, beef. God I'm hungry.)
> 
> Dunno what or when the next of these will be, but I do know I wanna do some that put focus on Ruby and Blake, since they're underserved at the moment. Everyone else has kinda been an ensemble thing or gotten at least one of their own, they're due a few. See ya around!


	20. Mini-mates Adventures

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Moments where the Housemates and their friends simply have fun and screw around.

**All Star**

A 22-year-old Nora looks at Blake and asks, “Hey, if I die, will you sing ‘All Star’ by Smash Mouth at my funeral?”

Because literally no one could expect that kind of question, it takes a moment for it to register in Blake’s mind. When it finally does, she looks at Nora like the redhead randomly started speaking Farsi. “Excuse me?? Did you say ‘if’?”

“C’mon, do it!” Nora pleads. “It’ll be fun!” 

“Won’t that be distasteful, though?” Blake wonders. “What would Ren or your family think?”

“You guys _are_ my family,” the actress states. “And Ren won’t mind! He said that if he goes before me, I could have his tombstone say ‘Order Up.’”

“I dunno...”

“Pleeeeeeeeease?”

“Alright, fine, I’ll sing the song when—“

“ _If,_ ” Nora stresses,

“If you die, yes.” To show she means business, Blake sticks her pinky out. The two link digits to seal the deal. 

(Decades from now, Nora _will_ die before Blake, who follows through on their deal. Ironically, the solemn rendition of the song feels so jarringly out of place during what is otherwise a dour day. But it gets laughter out of their assorted group, muffled as it has to be to avoid being rude. Even Ren and his now adult daughter Eivor found it worth laughing at, once the service was complete. 

Blake likes to think Nora could see the future and knew her family would need the humor after her passing.) 

* * *

**Whatever Works**

Blake watches warily as Sun and Nora chat. She only met Nora briefly during the Christmas party last year, and she seemed nice enough. But she also knows that Sun has a magnetic personality that attracts people with some amount of chaotic energy. And Nora, from her grin to the way she showed up carried on her boyfriend’s back, just _screams_ chaos. 

Perhaps that’s why Ren is next to her, keeping an eye on the pair. He doesn’t strike Blake as overly possessive or anything like that; if anything, his quiet presence has helped put her at ease during this little outing. He’s simply observing.

Ren looks at her from the corner of his eye. “Don’t worry,” he says, reading her intent. “Nora’s obvious when a scheme is about to happen. And I’ve gotten used to seeing all of the signs.”

Blake smiles. “You two have been together a long time, huh?”

“Not as long as you’d think, but also forever.” He smiles. “It’s never boring, that’s for sure.”

“She seems to have a lot of energy. How do you keep up?”

“Two things. First, I have complete trust in her that anything she does won’t escalate beyond her control.”

“And the second?”

Turning to her, Ren plainly states: “I have the Tokyo Drift song playing in my head at all times and have learned to simply vibe.”

That was...not what Blake expected to hear. “And it works?”

“More than you’d think.” Ren shrugs and looks back to Nora and Sun. 

Like Ren, Blake shrugs and turns back to observe their friends. _Whatever works._

* * *

**Name Game**

Weiss’ eyes go to Ruby. Then Yang. Then Blake. Then Marrow. “Okay,” the heiress sighs and focuses herself. Her face becomes neutral. “Hit me.”

Ruby speaks first. “Andy Warhowl.” Nothing. 

“Bark Obama!” Marrow blurts. Nope. 

“Oprah Whalefrey,” says Yang. Nada. 

“Uh, uh, Dog the Bounty Hunter! ( _That’s not a real name, you dolt!_ Weiss thinks.)

“Crabis McElroy!” That gets Weiss to snort, but nice try, Yang. 

“Doggie Howser!” “Steve Birdwin!” “Harriet Bree!”

Weiss shakes her head at all three names. Ruby, Yang, and Marrow sigh. The latter turns to Blake and asks, “You gonna participate?”

Steeping her fingers together, Blake narrows her eyes. She leans forward in her chair and says two words. “Antuna Porowski.”

A loud snort leaves Weiss’ lips. She feels her body start to tremble. 

Smirking, Blake continues. “Salmon L. Jackson.”

_Oh, no,_ Weiss thinks as she puts her face in her hands. _No, no, don’t break._

“Mantany Hopkins.”

That does it. Weiss finally breaks and lets the laughs fly out. Everyone else, sans Blake, groans in defeat. 

“I think that’s 3 wins for me,” Blake smugly says. 

Yang whistles. “Dang, you’re good. I could learn some tips from you.”

The darker girl shrugs. “Xiao Long as you don’t use that Oprah one ever again, I’d be happy to teach you.”

Weiss laughs so hard so slides off her chair. 

* * *

**Hug it Out**

“Yang!” Ruby throws her arms out. “Hug me! Now, please.” 

Curious, the blonde walks over to her sister and wraps her in a hug. When they break apart, Ruby takes out her phone and writes something down. 

“Not that I’ll ever turn down a hug from you, Rubes, but—“

“I’ll explain in just a moment. Jaune!”

The blond boy walks out of his room. “What’s up?”

“Hug meeeeeeeee!”

Jaune looks at Ruby, then Yang. “Okay.....” He walks over and hugs her. “What’s going on?”

For the second time, Ruby pulls out her phone and furiously types. “I wanted to see who could give the best big sibling hug.”

The blondes look at each other. “Why?” Yang asks. 

“For science, duh. Now there’s only one thing left to do. Both of you hug me!”

“Are you serious?” “Yeah, I’m with Yang, I don’t wanna—“

“ _Do iiiiiiiiit!”_ That gets them both to follow her demand. Wrapped in the arms of her big sister and fourth best friend, Ruby sighs. “Oh, yeah. This is nice.”

Meanwhile, Yang and Jaune both look at each other. Awkwardly. 

“Your sister’s weird sometimes,” Jaune says. 

Yang sighs in exhaustion. “Yeah, man. I know.”

* * *

**A Lively Discussion**

  
Blake’s eye twitches as she stares up at Weiss. “You’ve got some nerve, Schnee. Thinking you know better than me.”

“I don’t think, Belladonna,” Weiss sneers. “I _know_ I’m right!”

“How can you even say that?! Are you out of your mind?!”

“You’re the one who thinks she knows everything!” 

“Hold on, hold on,”

“This is my favorite thing!” Blake screams,

“ _Hold on!_ ” Weiss puts a hand in her friend's face. “Her sister was a witch! Right? And what was her sister?” She bends over. “THE WICKED WITCH OF THE EAST, BRO!” (Where did ‘bro’ come from? She may be hanging around Sun too much.)

Watching them both, a cackling Yang leans on Ruby to keep steady. The silver-eyed girl manages to keep herself, and her phone, upright as she continues recording. 

Feeling like she’s won, Weiss walks away. “I’m gonna stab her,” Blake mutters before getting up. “I cannot stand you.”

“You’re gonna look at me and tell me that I’m wrong?!” Weiss challenges. She does a full turn to meet Blake. “Am I wrong?!”

“It’s my favorite movie!” Blake screeches. 

“She wore a crown and came down a bubble, _dolt!_ ” 

“I’m not fighting with you!” The musician turns around and walks back to her seat. 

“Grow up, Belladonna! Grow up!”

Before Weiss goes around the corner, Blake offers a single finger at her retreating form. “GET EDUCATED!”

* * *

**High Five**

Yang throws a hand up. “Who’s up for a high five?”

“Please, no,” Weiss shakes her head. “Never again.”

“You high five _so_ hard,” Jaune grumbles. 

Yang rolls her eyes. “You guys are just wimps. Nora, cmon, let’s do it.”

Of all of them, Nora is typically gung ho for anything, which is all the more surprising when she refuses. “Pass. I learned my lesson back in high school.”

Sighing, Yang looks toward her last hope. “Pyrrha?”

The athlete looks at Yang, then her other friends—all of them doing some silent variation of “say no!!!!”—then Yang again. “Eh, why not.”

(Weiss smacks her forehead. Jaune shakes his head. Ren and Nora simply sigh in defeat.)

“Yes!” Yang pumps a fist. “You won’t regret this!”

The six freshmen make their way to the school football field. With no one else there, it’s the perfect opportunity for Yang to do something she’s always wanted to try. When Pyrrha’s eyes light up in determination, she knows she’s made the right choice. 

“This is absolutely deranged,” Weiss sighs once everything is put into place. “But, Nora says Pyrrha is ready when you are.”

“Sweeeeeet.” Yang flexes the fingers on her prosthetic. “You better get over with the others, Ice Queen.”

Weiss sighs and does as she’s told, moving to the center of the track. She stands next to Ren and Nora and flatly says, “I’m surrounded by idiots.”

“Indeed.” “Yep, pretty much.”

“C’mon, Yang,” Jaune mutters. “Don’t let that robot win. Oh man, what if they high five so hard they die?”

Ren shrugs. “I do not think that could happen. But if they did...it would probably be on brand for Yang.” He picks up the bullhorn by his feet and says as loud as he can: “Ready! Get set! GO!”

From two ends of the field, Pyrrha and Yang come running at each other. The closer they get to collision, their friends’ worry increases. Jaune bites his nails. Weiss hides behind Nora as best she can. Ren takes three steps back. Nora hits the record button on her phone. 

Nearly reaching the center of the field Yang screams and jumps in the air, pulling her prosthetic hand back. Pyrrha also jumps in the air, screaming as she pulls her hand back. Time stops as the momentum brings them closer to each other. 

Their palms impact. 

  
**~oOo~**   
  


“Well, that’s the first time I’ve heard of someone being high fived so hard _their arm flies off_ ,” Weiss says. 

Nearly an hour and one frantic search for first aid later—plus texts to several of them from their other classmates, asking if anyone heard what sounded like a sonic boom—everything's back to normal. Or whatever counts as normal for this group. 

Nearby, Ren wraps Pyrrha’s _extremely_ red hand in bandages. “I feel like I’ve just witnessed history,” he says dryly. 

“So much for saving humanity from Skynet,” Jaune mutters. Pyrrha mock glares at him. 

“Hear that, Pyr?” Yang grins. Her prosthetic is fine, save for the hand imprint on her palm and the throbbing sensation along her entire arm. “We’re legends.” The pair go to high five with their injured hands again—

“YANG XIAO LONG, DON’T YOU DARE!” “PYRRHA, NO!”

Dejected, they both go, “Fiiiiiiiiiine.” And instead, then fist bump. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here’s a buncha quick gags that aren’t long enough to be their own individual chapters, but hopefully funny enough to be interesting. Like I said, it’s just all of them dicking around. (See: Yang and Pyrrha being chaotically dumb. Certain groupings of these people lead to sheer idiocy.) 
> 
> Other than the two at the beginning and the one at the very end, don’t worry about the when, I wrote them so they could be at any point in the gang’s lives. 
> 
> Lemme know if you like, I may do more every now and again.


	21. The Obligatory New Years Chapter

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yang wants to read. Ruby asks Ren to grill a cheese. The gang breaks a wall.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> :)

**The future. Senior year.**

“Three minutes!!!” Nora bounces on the balls of her feet. The New Years party hat nearly falls off her head. “It’s almost here!” 

Someone, it may be Yang, says “Down in front!” and Ren grabs his girlfriend’s wrist to pull her back into his lap. “We can’t all watch the ball drop if you’re in front of the TV,” he smiles. 

“I can’t help it! I’m excited!”

“We noticed,” deadpans Weiss, slotted in between Ruby and Blake. The 22-year-old’s somehow been convinced into wearing a tiara with the new year’s numbers on her head. (At some point, the last two digits were removed from the headwear.)

“Oh, oh!” Ruby brings up a finger. “Everyone makes one New Years resolution or goal! I’ll go first! Before we graduate, I wanna see my art featured in something everyone will see! Like a magazine!”

Predictably, the silver eyed one nudges Weiss to continue. “I suppose...it would be nice to have dinner with my family’s families.” 

“Awwww, you called us family,” Yang teases. 

“The sentimentality must be causing brain rot.” While everyone giggles, she raises an eyebrow at Blake. 

The ex-musician taps her chin in thought. “A chance to write for a publication outside of the school wouldn’t be unwelcome,” red spreads across her face. “A big website, I mean. It’s just a silly idea.”

“Nope, none of that,” Jaune shakes his head. “Good vibes only in this house.” 

“You _are_ gonna write for something outside the school paper,” Pyrrha adds. “And we’ll be among the first to read it.”

“I will literally take a day off from everything to read it again and again,” Nora promises with all seriousness. 

The positive reinforcement gets Blake so flustered she puts her face in her hands. “Thanks, guys,” comes a muffled reply. 

“My turn,” Yang grins. “Next year, I am gonna—“

“Finally see a doctor to deal with your snoring?” Ruby asks. 

“Quit leaving your workout equipment all over the house?” says Weiss. 

Yang points at them both. “I have been talking to a doctor, sometimes Pyrrha does it too, and both of ya, shut up! What I was _going_ to say was that next year, I wanted to do more reading. Feels like I haven’t actually read for fun since I was a kid.”

Now calmed down, Blake offers, “I can help you with that.”

(Nora covers her mouth and coughs, though it suspiciously sounds like “Called it!”)

“Directing a short film would be nice,” Ren shrugs. “That, or meeting Gordon Ramsay and Guy Fieri and creating a grilled cheese so good it makes both of them weep. I’m not picky.”

“Can you make me a grilled cheese after the ball drops?” Ruby whispers. Ren gives a thumbs up in response, and they grin. “Yeeeeeeeee!!!”

“Man, you guys all have pretty nice goals,” says Jaune, scratching the back of his head. “Honestly, I just wanna finally take a chance and run a D&D campaign.”

Ruby and Yang respond first. “Ooh, I’ll play!” “Nerrrrrrrrrrd!”

“I’ll play too,” replies Ren. “You help me with my short film, I join your campaign.”

“Deal,” Jaune agrees before looking to Pyrrha. “What about you, babe?”

The athlete considers this for half a second, then answers. “Nora. Ruby. Sometime next year, I would like you to teach me how to be completely and utterly lazy.”

Ruby drops their phone. “My god.”

  
The gang has in the past tried to get Pyrrha to be as lazy as they have on the weekends, to no success. The closest they’ve come is Ren with his meditating, and even that didn’t last long because the athlete felt like it was just her body on standby rather than actually shutting down in a way laziness requires.

For Pyrrha to request this means a lot, so much so that Nora’s response is considerably more dramatic. The actor gasps before covering her mouth with her hand. “You mean it?” When Pyrrha nods, something like a sob escapes her muffled lips. “You have made me the happiest woman on earth.”

“You said the same thing the other day when I ordered extra ranch with our wings,” Ren chimes in, not caring when he gets flicked on the nose. 

“60 seconds,” Blake says, rising to her feet. A moment later, she comes back with five wine glasses filled with champagne. Yang takes one, while Jaune grabs one each for Pyrrha, Nora, and Ren before taking the last for himself. 

Weiss raises her glass of water. “A toast?”

“To good health and great friends,” Ren raises his glass. 

“To the progress we’ve made this year, no matter how small,” adds Blake, raising her cup of tea. 

“To being together with people we love!” Yang grins. 

Ruby raises her glass of milk and dramatically says, “To the grilled cheeses that Ren will be making for me later!” They all laugh and clink their glasses together before taking sips of their drinks. 

“Hey, wait,” Jaune points to Nora. “What’s your goal for next year?”

The redhead proudly states, “To spend every day smiling and hanging out with the family I made!”

Pyrrha puts a hand to her chest. “Aw, Nora!”

“Also, I wanna beat your mom and Yang’s dad at arm wrestling, but anyways!” She grins. “10, 9....”

Ren and Jaune join in. “8, 7, 6....”

Pyrrha and Yang. “5, 4...”

Blake and Weiss. “3, 2–“

And finally, Ruby. “1!”

“ **HAPPY NEW YEAR**!” They all shout as loudly as they can.

“Happy 20, my friends!” Nora beams. 

Ren raises an eyebrow. “Just 20? You have no idea what year this is, do you?”

“Yyyyyyyeah! I know what year it is! It’s um....shut up.” She leans down and kisses him. 

Still looking at the couple, Yang inches her head toward Blake and whispers, “That doesn’t seem like a satisfying answer.”

Blake chuckles lightly, then leans down to the blonde’s ear. “Maybe because you’re not on the receiving end,” she whispers, before kissing her on the cheek. 

Predictably, Yang blushes. “Well, you got me there.” She grins and kisses Blake on her cheek. Then her lips.

Similarly, Ruby looks at Weiss and whispers: “Okay but seriously, what year _is_ it?”

Weiss rolls her eyes and turns her head. “You dolt, it’s—“ Her answer dies on her lips as one of Ruby’s hands goes to her cheek. 

Suavely, and not like Ruby at all, they ask, “Can I kiss you?”

Weiss’ face goes even more scarlet than Yang’s. “Well, it is something of a holiday tradition,” she mutters. “I suppose.” She leans in and presses her lips to Ruby’s. 

Amidst all these kissing couples, Jaune and Pyrrha look at each other. “You wanna...?” Jaune asks. 

Grinning, Pyrrha grabs him by his shirt. “Love you, nerd.”

“Love you too, robot.” And they kiss. 

Eventually, everyone stops with the PDA, turning their attention to you, the person reading this.

“From all of us, to everyone not in this chapter and the guy writing this, we wanna wish you a happy holidays!” Ruby smiles. 

“We hope you’ve enjoyed reading our adventures over the last 10 months,” Ren adds. “It’s had some ups and downs, but it wouldn’t be what it is without you, the reader.”

Pyrrha gives a thumbs up. “Ren’s right. Thank you all so much for reading and commenting! And we hope the next year has more stories to come.”

“Oh, it’s definitely got more adventures!” Nora promises. “Ren and I get to babysit Pyrrha and Jaune’s son!”

Jaune’s eyebrows go up. “Wait, our wha—“

“Also,” Ruby cuts in, “I go by they/them now! Buuuuuuuuuut I also still go by she/her sometimes! So for anything set after our junior year, that’s why the pronouns have changed!”

“It’s gonna be so fun when we come back in 2021,” Yang grins. “I’m gonna fight Pyrrha!”

“I get stuck in a vent,” says Blake. “And read so. Many. Books.”

“Jaune and I get to have a guys night with Sun and his friends,” Ren informs. In complete seriousness, he says, “We are going to get hella lit and talk about our feelings.”

“All these and more await,” Weiss smiles. “But they’ll take some time before they’re ready. After all, these can’t be half measures! They must be utter perfection.”

“So we’ll see ya when we see ya! But until then....” Ruby smirks. “Ren, please grill me a cheese!”

The pink haired boy waits for Nora to get off his lap before getting to his feet. “How about grilling all of us some cheeses?”

Everyone cheers in excitement as he walks to the kitchen. 

Weiss smacks her forehead and turns back around to face you, the reader. “Wait, another thing. This fourth wall break? Only here because it felt like too much effort to type in the notes. Also that kiss, me and Ruby? Not canon.”

Yang pops up from behind her and smirks. “Even though you want it to be....”

The heiress rolls her eyes. “And neither were the ones between Blake and this oaf.”

“But, who knows?” Yang winks. “It’s 2021 now, baby, and anything’s possible! See ya!” She gives two finger guns before they both leave.

**The Housemates will return in 2021.**

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy new year. :)


End file.
